Flowering Tian'anmen Square

Flowers Clustering Around Tiananmen

As National Day is drawing near, workers from the Beijing Forestry Bureau are busy preparing a special painting as a present dedicated to the 51st birthday of the People's Republic of China on October 1, using Tian'anmen Square and Chang'an Avenue as their canvas, China Daily reported September 25.

In the evening, colorful lights installed around the pots will bring in a brilliant moon whose shine rivals the one in the sky.

Although the four corner colorful theme flowerbeds and the central fountain flower terrace have yet to be arranged, swarms of visitors excitedly click their cameras every day.

Early in 1986 when plane design dominated the flower beds, all designs, created with pots of differently-coloured flowers, lay on the ground.

Today, designers have turned to three-dimensional arrangements.

Using plastic and steel shelves, they are racking their brains to make the "dragon" fly and the "horse" run.

In 1997, they reproduced the winding Great Wall with these blossoms.

This time, designers focus on loving and nature themes.

The flowerbed on the southeast corner of the Square features hills, pavilions, bridges and waterfalls, all created with flowers.

With state-of-the-art garden technology, they have succeeded in controlling when many of the flowers bloom.

Many new breeds, which should have bloomed in the summer, will blossom from the end of this month through until October 1, to dress Tian'anmen Square in its holiday best.

One of the designers' pride and joys is the central flower setting which boasts the largest fountain in the country.

Set off by an S-shaped flower belt, the program-controlled fountain, with a radius of 15 meters, will shoot out more than 10 water scenes. The water will rise to about 18 meters at its highest point.

To brighten up the fountain, the workers have placed 1,200 lamps under the water.

For the celebration, dozens of new breeds, including petunias, purple salvias and begonias, have been introduced from abroad.

To keep the flowers blooming, the gardeners will work day and night on the Square for the next three weeks.

They have already installed 1,500 sprinklers among the pots on the Square.

Gardeners will continue their work on the Square looking after their "babies" through all seven-day national holidays.

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