BEIJING, Sept. 23 -- Macao Day, featuring a lotus-themed garden and celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), was observed at the ongoing International Horticultural Exhibition in Beijing starting Sunday.

Diverse activities are organized during the three-day event, including lion dance performances, Portuguese folk dances, a show of Chinese painting and calligraphy in the Exhibition Garden of Macao.

Ten performers carried an 18 meter-long lotus dragon, made of lotus flowers and leaves, to parade around the park as part of the celebration.

The lotus is a signature element in Macao. Macao's original landscape was like a budding lotus flower. Its flag has a stylized lotus and five stars. It also has a Lotus Square and many streets named after the flower.

The Beijing Horticultural Expo, themed "Live Green, Live Better" and believed to be the world's largest expo of its kind, features a vast collection of flowers, fruit trees, Chinese herbal medicines and plant landscaping techniques, as well as ideas for green development. The expo opened to the public on April 29 in Yanqing District and will last until Oct. 7.