Press conference for the 23rd China Orchid Expo held in Taicang

On the morning of April 3, 2013, the press conference for the 23rd China (Taicang) Orchid Expo was held in Taicang. More than twenty invited well-known media outlets from across the country attended the press conference, including Guangming Daily, China Daily, People's Daily Overseas Edition, China News Service, China Flower & Gardening News, Xinhua Daily, Jiangsu Satellite TV, Suzhou Daily, Suzhou TV, Yangtse Evening Post, Modern Express, Jiangnan Times, Suzhou Radio Station, Consumer Times, Wenhui Daily, Xinmin Evening News, People's Daily Online, Sunan Channel, Mingcheng Suzhou Network, China Orchid Trading Network, and China Jiangsu Network.

Zhao Jianchu, Vice Mayor of Taicang, introduced the situation of the Orchid Expo. Wu Huiliang, President of the Jiangsu Orchid Association, and Fan Zongzhi, Executive Vice President of the Taicang Orchid Association, among others, answered questions from journalists.

The 23rd China (Taicang) Orchid Expo will open on April 12 at the Taicang New City Orchid Garden with its secluded fragrance in the Taicang Modern Agricultural Park. This is the first time the China Orchid Expo is being held in a county-level city, and it is a grand event that showcases orchid varieties, orchid art and orchid culture to audiences at home and abroad.

The China Orchid Expo is a large national orchid exhibition event, aimed at promoting the orchid culture of the Chinese nation, cultivating orchid varieties, and advancing the healthy development of the orchid industry. This year's Orchid Expo is hosted by the Orchid Branch of the China Flower Association and organized by the Jiangsu Province Orchid Association and the Taicang City Orchid Association.

Taicang has a developed economy and society, and the Loudong culture is broad and profound. Its orchid culture heritage is also very deep. Wang Shimao, younger brother of the great Ming dynasty literary figure Wang Shizhen, cultivated orchids at the Wumei Garden in Taicang and wrote "Xuepu Zashu", which describes in detail the habits of Cymbidium faberi; Chen Qiutao, a Taicang timber merchant in the Qing dynasty, once cultivated the superb green-flowered Cymbidium faberi "Qiuzi", which stood out in the Qing dynasty orchid world; the modern master of Chinese painting, Mr. Zhu Qizhan, loved orchids and was uniquely skilled at painting them. Today Taicang has become one of the regions in Jiangsu where the orchid industry has developed fastest and most comprehensively. There are many orchid art enthusiasts, the cultivation scale is relatively large, the varieties are relatively complete, and famous varieties old and new are gathered together. It has repeatedly held large-scale orchid events such as cross-strait and provincial-level orchid exhibitions. The orchid has become a uniquely charming calling card for the city of Taicang.

This year's Orchid Expo takes "Orchid Fragrance in Jiangnan, Beautiful Taicang" as its theme, setting a precedent for combining the Orchid Expo with modern agricultural landscapes, with Jiangnan classical gardens, and with orchid culture and distinctive culture. Through this Orchid Expo, with orchids as the medium, it showcases Taicang's unique Loudong culture and orchid culture, expands exchanges and cooperation between Taicang and other regions, promotes the vigorous development of Taicang's orchid culture industry and tourism, and also contributes to the cause of promoting our country's orchid industry and orchid culture development.

The main venue of this year's Orchid Expo is set at the Taicang New City Orchid Garden, which has three major sections: the Feature Hall, the Comprehensive Hall and the Trading Area. The New City Orchid Garden (that is, the Feature Hall), built in Ming and Qing style, is divided into the Featured Orchid Hall, the Orchid Culture Hall and the Loudong Culture Hall, covering an area of 100 mu, with a building area of about 5800 sq m. The Comprehensive Hall is for the orchid halls of other provinces, composed of 4 exhibition areas including "Jiangsu Famous Orchids", "Zhejiang and Shanghai Rarities", "Central Plains Treasures" and "Southern Orchids", with 4000 sq m as a fully intelligent greenhouse glass structure, and an outdoor trading area covering 3000 sq m.

Located in the Taicang Modern Agricultural Park, the New City Orchid Garden is an organic component of the landscape of the Modern Agricultural Park. The Taicang Modern Agricultural Park is a national 4A tourist attraction, composed of venues such as the Modern Agriculture Exhibition Hall, the Flower and Horticulture Exhibition Hall, the Endian Rose Garden, the Rose Manor, and the Jiangnan Ecological Wetland Hall. It is a modern agricultural demonstration zone integrating ecology, high efficiency, tourism and an export-oriented approach. The completion of the New City Orchid Garden has added a new color to Taicang's modern agriculture.

This year's Orchid Expo will last three days. In addition to orchid exhibitions, exchanges, awards and trading, it will also hold the National Orchid Association Council meeting, an orchid summit forum, and a series of tourism, economic, trade and cultural activities. The Orchid Expo organizing committee plans to set up 5 Special Gold Awards, 50 Gold Awards, 80 Silver Awards, 100 Bronze Awards, 12 Best Organization Awards, 7 Best Contribution Awards, 1 Orchid Culture Special Grand Prize, and 7 Orchid Culture Excellence Awards, for a total of 262 awards.

In order to welcome the 23rd China (Taicang) Orchid Expo, the Taicang Municipal Party Committee and Government have attached great importance to it, and relevant departments have worked together, proposing to "be good hosts and hold a successful Orchid Expo". After intense and orderly preparation, all preparatory work is basically ready, and it is hoped that this year's Orchid Expo will be distinctive and stylish.

Admire fine orchids, tour beautiful Taicang. The people of Taicang welcome friends from the orchid world at home and abroad to come to the event and exhibit, and welcome orchid enthusiasts and tourists from all places to come and admire them. May the "fragrance of the king" perfume the land of Loudong.