The Taichung World Flora Exposition runs from Nov. 3 this year to April 24, 2019, in the central Taiwan metropolis. (Photo courtesy of Taichung City Government)

More than 8 million expected visitors, a budget of NT$8.675 billion (US$289.2 million), 60 hectares of landscaped grounds, 20,000-plus staffers and volunteers, a mechanical tree with robot blooms, a building inspired by a bee’s flight and millions upon millions of flowers: this is the Taichung World Flora Exposition. An enormous effort has gone into ensuring that the international fair will make a splash when it kicks off Nov. 3 in the central Taiwan metropolis.

“The event offers a great opportunity to boost the visibility of the country as well as its second largest city,” according to Kuo Kun-ming (郭坤明), deputy secretary-general of Taichung City Government (TCG) and chief executive officer of the expo. This is the second time Taiwan has staged the global spectacle. Around 9 million people visited when it was held in Taipei City during 2010 and 2011.
 

It was in September 2012 that the Netherlands-headquartered International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) awarded industry group Taiwan Floriculture Development Association and TCG the right to host the fair. “The importance of the event lies in its ability to connect Taiwan with the world while stressing harmony between people and nature,” Kuo said.

Nothing illustrates this more sharply than a decision taken in the early stages to undertake a rezoning to avoid encroaching on a leopard cat habitat. In the early hours of Jan. 30, 2014, grainy footage captured on an infrared camera showed that one of the endangered felines, which are about the size of a domestic cat, was living on land earmarked for the event.

Organizers took stock of the implications and redrew the borders to avoid disturbing the mammals. The original 81 hectares in Houli District set aside for the fair was more than halved and the two neighboring districts of Waipu and Fengyuan stepped in, taking about 15 hectares each. A family of cartoon leopard cats—pastry chef mom, pastry eater dad and their two kids—naturally became the event’s lovable mascots.
 

Green, Nature and People

In keeping with the expo’s environmentally friendly focus, Taichung is redefining the concept of gross national product (GNP). At the festival, GNP has an alternative meaning: green, nature and people, with each district assigned one theme to explore.

Houli, the largest of the three sites, has been allocated Nature. It houses the event’s centerpiece Blossom Pavilion. This permanent facility is made up of two partially overlapping buildings and is an architectural rendering of a bee’s flight path. One is a circular greenhouse, which will showcase Taiwan’s enormous variety of orchids. It will be one of the main venues for the 23rd World Orchid Conference in 2020, a triennial global event focused on conservation. The other building will be used to host an international floral design contest during the expo, where artists from 18 nations will compete for the most creative displays.

In line with its Green theme, Waipu is hosting the Agri-Tech and Conservation Pavilion, which promotes green energy and environmentally friendly farming practices. “This facility is a window on the circular economy and new agriculture,” Kuo said, referring to the two in the government’s five-plus-two industrial innovation initiative, a flagship development project introduced in 2016. In addition to the two concepts, the economic revitalization program targets the five high-growth sectors of biotech and pharmaceuticals, green energy, national defense, smart machinery and Internet of Things.

Fengyuan interpreted its People topic by transforming Huludun Park into a landscaped garden and waterfront walkway. The overhaul focused on cleaning up Ruanpizai Creek and beautifying its banks with a 1.8-kilometer walking trail flanked by flower beds. “The ultimate aim was to give the public access to the creek with a fantastic people-focused environment,” Kuo said. Thanks to preparation work for the expo, the waters of Ruanpizai churned with rowers’ oars this June when it hosted its first-ever dragon boat race.
 

Company Collaboration

There are more than just flowers and gardens on the program. Local companies were invited to build six exhibition halls with interactive displays and installations showcasing the city’s commitment to a sustainable future and inculcating a respect for nature.

TV screen manufacturer AU Optronics Corp., based in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City, has fashioned state-of-the-art panels on which visitors can view magnified images of the microscopic world in its AUO Micro Gallery at the Houli site. Taipei-based National Taiwan Museum provided the samples of pollen and seeds from indigenous plants that form the display.

“We hope that people will be moved and inspired by the miniature beauty of plant life to care for the environment,” said Paul Peng (彭双浪), the company’s chief executive officer. Illustrating its green ambitions, the firm used recyclable steel and newspaper-reinforced concrete as building materials for the facility. Once the expo is over, AU Optronics intends to move the structure to its factory complex in Taichung where it will be converted into an environmental education center.
 

Taipei-based Taiwan Land Development Corp. (TLDC) hired Kengo Kuma, the famed Japanese architect behind the main Olympic stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Games, to design the TLDC Tsumiki Pavilion located in Houli. It is constructed from 1,450 triangular wooden blocks with 1,554 varieties of camellias on display inside and around the outdoor perimeter. “The pavilion’s natural atmosphere is derived from using the two major elements of flowers and wood,” the enterprise’s spokesperson Rocky Lo (羅濟淇) said. “Blocks were used to create feelings of childlike innocence and creativity.”

Showcasing the host city’s strengths in smart machinery manufacturing, Victor Taichung Machinery Works Co. constructed a 5-meter outdoor mechanical flowering tree whose blooms interact with visitors. The robot flowers conceal motion sensors that open the metallic petals when they detect movement. Victor Taichung Fantasy Land in Houli also includes an indoor section with an interactive floor and wall projections.

Behind the Scenes

Making sure the whole five-plus month spectacle runs smoothly are more than 20,000 staffers, consultants and volunteers helping with everything from guiding and sanitation to ticketing. Experts in their field were brought in to ensure excellence, even down to the smallest details such as lighting and music. “The expo is a joint effort by individuals and organizations from the public and government sectors,” Kuo said. “I’ve found their great solidarity especially touching.”
 

Experimental composer Lim Giong (林強) was commissioned to pen a soundtrack for the Discovery Pavilion in Houli, which narrates the story of TCG’s leopard cat conservation program. Chou Lien (周鍊), once lighting designer for the Statue of Liberty in New York, advised on the illumination for the landscaped 1.2-km path starting at Houli train station and running through the site.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the flower farmers. Lee Tsung-chi (李聰棋) has been growing blooms since the early 1990s in Houli, and this season he has been tending his fields with particular care as one of the suppliers for the expo. “I’m glad I’ve got the chance to do my bit to help Taichung present itself at its best,” he said.

Lee is confident that visitors from home and abroad will be dazzled by the floral displays, especially the orchids. About 60 percent of the dancing lady orchids produced by Taiwan are cultivated in the city.

As well as these ubiquitous flowers, Lee will also be providing something special for the event—stars of Bethlehem. This dainty white flower, native to the Mediterranean region, is rarely seen in Taiwan. “There’ll be plenty of surprises for everyone who comes to experience the expo,” he said.