Flowers blooming in Tianfu reveal the secrets of the 2024 Chengdu Horticultural Expo opening ceremony_Sichuan Online

Sichuan Online Reporter Lei Shipu Nanxi Picture/Ouyang Jie

“12, 11, 10, 9, 8…” On the morning of April 26, on the bank of Jiangxia Lake, under the “Eye of Tianfu”, the countdown to the 2024 Chengdu World Horticultural Exposition (referred to as the 2024 Chengdu World Horticultural Exposition) began, and the expo will be held The 12 cities will appear on the big screen one after another.

In the countdown, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Chengdu Horticultural Expo kicked off. For exhibitors, the opening ceremony is not only the most ceremonial part, but also a window to experience the myriad aspects of Chinese modernization.

The opening ceremony was based on the theme of “Flowers blooming in Tianfu and thousands of weather”. The total duration was about 40 minutes. Two cultural and artistic programs were designed, and the total duration of the artistic performances was about 10 minutes. In this 10-minute cultural program, how to reflect the Chinese flavor, Sichuan characteristics, and Chengdu flavor?

How to highlight Sichuan elements?

Hibiscus flowers, giant pandas, and egrets are all here

In the Sichuan folk song “The Sun Comes Out and Be Happy”, hibiscus flowers appeared on the stage, and the welcome ceremony “Flowers Blooming in Tianfu” kicked off the opening ceremony.

“From the perspective of the performance setting, the theme of the welcome ceremony “Flowers Blooming in Tianfu” is more ‘Chengdu’ and more ‘Sichuan’.” Yan Lei, the chief director of the opening ceremony, said that the theme song of “Flowers Blooming in Tianfu” was composed by “The Sun” It was adapted from “Come Out Joyful” and incorporates symphony, folk music and other elements.

Why choose this Sichuan folk song? Yan Lei explained: “The sun is the source of life and is closely related to the growth of plants. This is very consistent with the theme of the Expo. In addition, this song can also express the hospitality of Sichuan people.”

In addition to Sichuan folk songs, animals and plants with Sichuan characteristics such as hibiscus, bamboo, and involucrata also appear one after another.

“We used dove flowers and hibiscus flowers as matchmakers to show the unique charm of the park city.” Yan Lei said, Davidia involucrata, also known as the “Pigeon Flower Tree”, not only conveys peace and friendship, but also represents the warm and tolerant character of Sichuan people. , and a tenacious, enterprising attitude.

In just 10 minutes, images of giant pandas, egrets, green-tailed pheasants and other rare animals living in Sichuan also appeared on the stage, fully demonstrating Sichuan’s biodiversity.

“Through the display of rare ecological resources such as egrets, we hope to convey that the Chengdu Horticultural Expo is not just about flowers, plants and trees, but also includes the concept of beautiful human settlements in the Land of Abundance, in which people and nature coexist harmoniously,” said Yan Lei.

She introduced that egrets are considered “monitoring birds” and “environmental protection birds” for atmospheric and water quality conditions. The green-tailed pheasant is known as the “giant panda among birds”. In recent years, traces of them have been captured in many places in Sichuan, which is a reflection of Sichuan’s protection of biodiversity and excellent ecology.

How to interpret “beauty is shared, everyone enjoys his own beauty”?

Sing famous songs from five continents live

The Chengdu Horticultural Expo is an international event integrating horticulture, culture, technology and art. In addition to displaying rich horticultural flowers, it is also a blend of culture and art.

“We hope that through this grand event, Chengdu can convey the beautiful vision of Chengdu inviting the world to seek common development and create a better future through the Expo. Therefore, we attach great importance to the internationality, communication and professionalism of the opening ceremony,” said Yan Lei.

How to balance Sichuan characteristics and internationality? In the pilot film for the opening ceremony, the director team interviewed foreign horticulture experts. The countdown screen also uses famous world landmarks, and many foreign student representatives and environmental protection volunteers are also invited to the program presentation.

Yan Lei revealed that during the initial rehearsal, in order to reflect the characteristics of Chengdu, the director team implanted many Chengdu cultural tourism landmarks in the countdown. “But after discussion, we felt that the World Horticultural Expo is an international event and the Olympics of the global horticultural community, so we finally changed it to the city that had hosted the opening ceremony of the World Horticultural Expo before. This would highlight the international nature of this World Horticultural Expo and also It can make Chinese and foreign guests feel recognized and respected,” she said.

The cultural program “Sharing Beauty” fully demonstrated the international nature of the Expo.

“Beauty and Beauty” is a series of three programs, using excerpts from the dance drama “Giant Panda” Green-tailed Pheasant, the quintessence of Chinese Peking Opera, and the “Five Continents Choir” to show the integration of Sichuan, China, and international culture and art, expressing “Beauty and Beauty” “Everyone appreciates his own beauty.”

During the performance, hundreds of primary school students sang newly adapted Asian “Jasmine”, African drum music, Australian “Sheep Shearing”, American “Country Road Take Me Home” and European “Sound of Spring Waltz” with pleasant children’s voices and multiple languages. and other famous songs from five continents, leaving a deep impression on the audience at the scene and through the live broadcast.

“In the process of preparing the program, we learned that horticulture is an important medium for interaction and communication among human civilizations.” Yan Lei said that the director team very much hopes to present the exchanges and integration of the five continents of the world at the opening ceremony of the Expo, so that people can Feel the importance of gardening in the integration of world civilizations.

In the process of selecting songs, the director team also tried their best to select the most representative and popular songs from each continent. “I hope that when the audience hears the songs, they will be reminded of the customs and stories of that place.”

How to embody green and low carbon?

The flowers on the stage will be transplanted

The reporter noticed that the left and right sides of the stage were designed with unique flower waterfalls, all decorated with flowers. After the performance, these flowers will be transplanted to other suitable places to continue to bloom beautifully and convey the Expo’s green concept of respecting nature.

In addition, the stage structure design also includes bamboo, and bamboo leaves are environmentally friendly and degradable materials. After the stage is dismantled at the end of the Expo, the bamboo will also be recycled for reuse.

The sustainable concept is also reflected in the subsequent use of the stage for the opening ceremony – with the goal of “holding meetings, running the city, developing industry, and benefiting the people”, the stage will be retained until the closing ceremony. For half a year, in addition to the opening and closing ceremonies, it will also host more activities, such as cultural performances during the May Day period, cultural tourism recommendations and other activities.

In addition, in order to leave enough time for professional visitors to view the garden on the opening day, the opening ceremony was scheduled in the morning.

“This also brings greater challenges.” Yan Lei said that night performances can bring better performance effects through lighting and stunts. In order to present a better effect during the day, the team adopted the technique of “borrowing scenery to compose the scene” to integrate the stage beauty with the surrounding landscape gardens, reflecting that “the eye of heaven is rooted in the landscape gardens”, “at the same time, we The main stage is also designed as a semicircle with reference to the Tianfu Eye Ferris Wheel behind it, making the Ferris wheel a part of the performance, thereby giving the audience a better visual experience.”