In Tangshan, north China's Hebei province,tens of thousands of plants are awaiting visitors to the International Garden Expo.

The Garden Expo is in the center of Tangshan, a city about one hundred kilometres north-east of Beijing. More than one hundred-thousand plants and flowers are on exhibition. There are three major venues and eight themes based on different Chinese garden art.

This is the tropical venue, it is about ten-thousand square meters in size, and holds more than a thousand different types of tropical plants. Many of them are quite rare, for example there is a tree called the Upas, which originates from Java Island. It is believed to be the most lethal tree in the world.”

There are baobab and the orchids of Singapore. The garden cultures of different countries are also being considered.

"We have invited oversea garden designers to ensure quality,ten countries have joined the Expo, and each has different styles," Zhang Wenmin, director of Tangshan South Lake Mangement Committee, said.

The theme of the Expo is Nature in Urban and Phoenix Nirvanas, as the site used to be a wretched area that most would have preferred to avoid.

This was the depression area of one of China’s first coal mines. For a long time, it was full of garbage and dereliction, and was called the scar of the city. But through decades of hard work and effort, it has become a garden in the middle of the city. That is the one thing about Chinese garden art, it makes the best use of its circumstances"

The South lake Eco-park is built upon the century-old coal mine. It is now a garden of 22 square-kilometers. More than half is lakes and wetlands.

"This is an example of an ecological restoration. And this is the crucial part of this expo," Xu Congyi, design director of Beijing Institute of Architechtural Design, said.

The garden expo will last for six months, and it will be part of the Tangshan garden for many years to come.