2017 Taiwan International Orchid Show officially opens, drawing huge crowds eager to see the orchids

The 2017 Taiwan International Orchid Show officially opened on the morning of the 4th with the striking of a gong by Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te and Chen Chien-pin, Director-General of the Agriculture and Food Agency under the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan. Mayor Lai and the attending VIPs especially shook hands and exchanged greetings with the long queue of people at the entrance, welcoming everyone to come in and enjoy the beautiful orchids, and expressing the hope that everyone would share the beauty of the orchids in the exhibition hall so that more people would visit Tainan and learn about Tainan's orchid industry.

In his speech, Mayor Lai Ching-te first thanked the National Cheng Kung University team for organizing and dedicating themselves to the event, and affirmed that this year's orchid show surpassed previous ones in both scale and content; not only was the theme clear, but the number of competition flowers and new varieties was the highest ever. The mayor also introduced the features of this year's orchid show to the public one by one. First, this year's show adopted the theme "DISCOVER SUSTAINABLE ORCHIDS - Tainan Taiwan Orchids, Endless Vitality," which carries the meaning of sustainable development; the venue was planned with four major exhibition halls, namely the Wonder Hall, the Beauty Contest Hall, the Happiness Hall, and the Future Hall, displaying Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Oncidium, Dendrobium and other orchid genera, with as many as over 20,000 plants collected; in addition, there were as many as over 2,000 competition flowers from various places, and more than 500 species of new orchid varieties, all vying in splendor and extremely spectacular. Mayor Lai Ching-te said that orchids represent happiness, wealth and good fortune, and urged people across the country not to miss it, and to seize the exhibition period to come to Houbi, Tainan to enjoy the flowers.

The National Cheng Kung University Research and Development Foundation reminded visitors that Xinying Bus is adding extra services in conjunction with the orchid show, increasing frequency; visitors should get off at the Welcome Plaza upon entering the park and board at the Welcome Plaza when leaving the park, and are welcome to make ample use of the service. Those driving themselves should follow the signs, park in the camp or park parking lots, and then take a shuttle bus to the exhibition venue.