Jiangsu hosts horticultural expo in gardens transformed from quarry remains

(Photo/People's Daily Online)

Jiangning District, Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province turned a 3.45-square kilometer quarry into a cluster of exquisite gardens where the 11th Horticultural Exposition of Jiangsu province was held.

The quarry used to be a natural valley boasting rich forest resources and benefiting from significant biodiversity. In the 1950s, massive quarrying activities were initiated at the site, leaving huge pits, scrapped cement plants and mud puddles.

Changes came in 2018 when the provincial government selected the quarry site as the venue for holding the province’s 11th annual horticultural expo. Select industrial remains were preserved and the ecological environment was restored. As a result, 13 exquisite gardens have been built on what were previously barren craters, which perfectly fuse into one whole in combination with the overall natural landscape.

Meanwhile, the remains of the silos and chimneys, once features of the 20th-century cement plants, were transformed into relics for display at a museum, while an open excavation dugout was preserved and turned into a theater. A train that once carried stones now rolls in between flowers while transporting tourists.