The landscape design alone cost us two years, with the plan revised 20 times, Duanmu Qi, designer of the valley, said. "It was really barren land without any green four years ago when I came here for the first time. We were also confronted with the big challenge of how to hold onto soil and water at that time. "

A lot of efforts have been done for ecological rehabilitation of this area, including improvement of the severely deteriorated land.

Duanmu recalled that in order to ensure the survival of the plants, layers of arable soil were used to replenish the pit where a huge amount of trash was left; first earth wrapped by woven fabric, then layers of fertile soil and finally organic nutrition soil.

Another highlight is the Chinese Garden Museum, a 6.5-hectare landmark building inside the garden park. The museum, known as the first state-level garden museum in the country, as well as in the world, will display the grand history of China's gardens over the past several thousand years.

Two underground sewerage treatment stations have been built to recycle wastewater for irrigation. The intelligent irrigation control system can help save more than 50 percent of water used for irrigation per year, whereas the ten solar photovoltaic power stations inside the park will help cut 1,900 tons of carbon emissions per year.The state-of-the-art materials and technologies, including water-permeable bricks, a rainwater and flood utilization system, an intelligent irrigation control system, vertical greening and a ground-source heat pump system, have been embraced to make the park green, eco-friendly and sustainable.

The garden park, known as a new ecological landmark in Beijing, will remain open to the public after the ending of the expo, which will run for six months starting from May 18 until November 18.

The expo is expected to welcome some 17 million visitors, bringing in more than two billion yuan (US$ 317 million) in direct consumption. More importantly, it will play an important role in stimulating the development of the city's southwestern area, as well as in promoting the development of the ecological green belt along the Yongding River.

The expo is jointly hosted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Beijing Municipal Government.

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