The Universiade is here: 700,000 potted flowers bloom along Taipei riverside to welcome guests

To welcome the 2017 Summer Universiade, the Hydraulic Engineering Office of the Taipei City Public Works Department has used nearly 700,000 pots of assorted flowering plants at Dajia Riverside Park, Yingfeng Riverside Park, Rainbow Riverside Park, Chengmei Left and Right Bank Riverside Parks, and Dadaocheng Wharf (Yanping Riverside Park), creating a welcoming sea of flowers with a total area of 19,000 sq m to grandly welcome athletes and visitors from around the world.

The Universiade will soon hold events at the Yingfeng Riverside Park skating rink and soccer field, and Rainbow Riverside Park also has a tennis practice court, so the Hydraulic Engineering Office has specially created ribbon-like flower fields along the entrances and exits of the various water gates and beside the bicycle paths at Dajia Riverside Park. Leading the public into the main open-view flower field site - the Dajia Theme Plaza - the energetic golfing Bravo bear opens this year's riverside flower field, while the green spaces around the event venues are planted with assorted flowering plants and three-dimensional green sculptures, with cute and eye-catching Bravo bears in skating, soccer, and tennis styles guiding athletes from various countries and the public into the event venues. Everyone is welcome to take photos with the full-of-energy Bravo and keep a rare Universiade memento.

In addition, the Hydraulic Engineering Office has also planned themed flower fields individually for Dadaocheng Wharf and Chengmei Left and Right Bank Riverside Parks, popular gathering spots for the public on holidays. Dadaocheng was internationally renowned in its early years for tea making, so the Hydraulic Engineering Office, using jasmine tea as the concept, created a jasmine-patterned flower field at Dadaocheng Wharf. Beside it, the Tangshan sailing ship and pavilion use potted flowers, paired with a cute Bravo bear sculpture and silhouettes of Taipei landmarks such as the 101 Building and a Ferris wheel, creating a focal landscape.

Chengmei Left and Right Bank Riverside Parks, near Raohe Night Market, take love as their theme, using heart-shaped flower troughs paired with thousands of pure white pinwheels to spell out "DO U ♥ME" and "YES I DO" on the left and right banks, adding a dreamy and sweet atmosphere to the riverbank. During the Universiade, which coincides with Qixi Valentine's Day, men and women who find it hard to speak their love aloud might as well bring the person they love here to reveal their feelings.