A blooming success in Tian'anmen

A worker examines a giant basket of artificial flowers and fruits in the center of Tian'anmen Square. The display was built to send "blessings to the motherland". [Photo by Wang Jing/China Daily]

Li Haibo's eagle eye missed nothing as he oversaw preparations for a giant floral basket, the centerpiece of this year's National Day display in Beijing's Tian'anmen Square.

Standing on a steel terrace overlooking bustling crowds of tourists, Li carefully marked the location of each artificial flower before it adorned the basket.

The floral display is a National Day routine observed by Li, an award-winning flower expert, for 21 years.

"My job could attract world attention - it is of great importance to me," he said.

Li is one of the more than 800 workers with the Beijing Flowers and Trees Corp who were racing to complete the floral display on Sept 16, ready for it to open to the public nine days later.

This year's floral arrangement carries the theme of "Building a beautiful China and realizing the Chinese Dream".

For the display, a steel frame for the flower basket, 18.2 meters high and 15 meters in diameter, was erected in Tian'anmen Square.

Another 10 floral displays, portraying landscapes or with cartoon themes, were being placed along Chang'an Avenue.

Construction of these displays began on Sept 15. They will be on view throughout the National Day holiday before being taken down in late October.

Lan Hailang, chief engineer with the company's design department, said: "For us, it's like the annual Spring Festival Gala on China Central Television. The square is at the center of national and world attention, and we are trying to come up with the best display we can present."

With artificial flowers and fruit, including peonies, yulan (magnolia), lilies, flat peaches, apples and grapes, along with 12 pots of poinsettia, the basket is designed to send "blessings to the motherland".

"The selection of each kind of flower or fruit carries a meaning. For example, in Chinese culture the peony symbolizes wealth, the flat peach longevity, while apples mean well-being," Lan said.

The design of the giant basket takes its inspiration from a work by painter Ding Liangguang of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The design team also sought the opinions of experts. "We also studied numerous samples to get the right color for the flowers and fruit," Lan added.

The giant basket also features in a 3-D display that will be shown every 30 minutes during the National Day holiday, said Shang Yan, assistant general manager with the Beijing Flowers and Trees Corp, who is in charge of this project.

The basket is surrounded by a flower bed 50 meters in diameter, which will feature flowers including cockscombs, red-spotted stonecrops, begonias and impatiens walleriana.

Shang said these flowers undergo a strict selection process, as they are supposed to be bright and compact, the same height, and most important, free of disease and pests.

The flowers are selected from the best available at the company's nurseries in Beijing's northwestern suburbs.

Cultivating the flowers began early in the year, and design of the floral display started in April.

The florescence of the flowers is carefully controlled to ensure they can bloom during the National Day holiday.

"We must make sure that the flowers start to bloom on September 26 or 27, so that they are in their best shape three days later," Lan Hailang said.

Meanwhile, the artificial flowers, which weigh at least 200 kg, are fixed on top of the basket to make sure they don't fall off.

The design for the giant basket as well as the 10 floral display structures was selected from four contenders shown by the company to the Beijing municipal government, Shang said.

Li Haibo said the theme for the flower display changes each year to represent major national events, such as the Olympic Games, completion of the Three Gorges Dam project, or the launch of Shenzhou spacecraft.

"Every year the display has a theme related to politics, which means there is a big role for us to play," he said.

However, it has become more difficult for them to match their designs to reality due to the limited time available, he said.

The time given to the company is limited to 10 days each year. It also has to carry out most of the work at night because of the large number of tourists visiting Tian'anmen Square in the day and a ban on cargo trucks in downtown areas.

Shang said: "We are trying to reduce the work in the square as much as possible and get most of it done elsewhere.

"We also have to have a plan B in case rain delays construction."

Work on the flower bed and structure is only the first step, with the more important task being maintenance, which involves watering the flowers, pest prevention and maintaining the LED lights, Shang said.

The flowers are also chosen to withstand windy and rainy weather, which can affect Beijing in the autumn.

Meanwhile, work safety is the top priority, Shang said.

The company hires the best welders in the capital to ensure the steel structure is built safely. It also maintains a team of security guards to patrol the area.

Despite all this work, Lan Hailang, the engineer, said it merits all his efforts.

"The work is about facing up to challenges and living up to the expectations of the people. We will do our best," he said.