A corporate garden at Beijing Expo 2019, the Stone Home Garden perfectly integrates traditional Chinese cultural elements such as the Twelve Zodiac Animals and the Twelve Floral Goddesses, stone culture of China, and modern science and technology, showcasing the residential culture and life philosophy of contemporary Chinese people to the world and conveying people’s pursuit and aspiration for the theme “Live Green, Live Better” with China’s profound stone culture, bonsai art, tea culture and ancient residential architecture.
The Stone Home Garden covers an area of 1,663.62 square meters. The centerpiece of the garden is a century-old traditional residence of Dali, Yunnan Province, which provides an opportunity for visitors to have a glimpse of Yunnan-style residences 100 years ago. Every building or landscape design in the garden—even including a tree and a piece of tile—demonstrates the ubiquitous influence of traditional Chinese culture. They fully stimulate tourists’ tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory and gustatory senses to gain an in-depth insight into the essence of traditional Chinese culture.
There, visitors can pass through the gate of history to enjoy rare stones exhibited in traditional residences and admire novelty rock bonsais of archaistic style. More than 100 rare rocks, ancient stone sculptures and jade wares in 75 categories will be presented in the Stone Home Garden during Beijing Expo 2019. Dubbed the “king of stones” in China, “Dharma in Meditation” will be unveiled to the public once again after it was exhibited at Beijing Garden Expo in 2013. Many archaistic stone bonsais created by Stone Home Garden will also be displayed. Despite their limited dimensions, those bonsais showcase the vastness of nature through skillful combination of tree stumps, oddly-shaped rocks and ancient objects, creating a strong atmosphere of traditional culture and signifying the harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
In the garden, tourists can see green trees and blooming flowers dance in the breeze and listen to the music played by streams running through rockeries. In the south of the garden stands a 31.5-square-meter LED display installed on the Zhejiang Centennial Corridor. During Beijing Expo 2019, the screen will be used to repeatedly broadcast the trailer of the 3D animated film Land of Stones: Guirui Garden. The protagonists of the animated film are the Twelve Zodiac Animals with strange stones as prototypes, and the film features an opera-like performance combining songs and dances, conveying the theme of integrating tradition and modernity, culture and science. With the Precious Linglong as the core, the garden presents wonderful stone culture featuring rare stones that resemble the Twelve Zodiac Animals and fully demonstrates the bold innovation of Chinese gardening and landscaping.
In the garden, visitors can smell the fragrant aroma of champaks and experience the beauty of ecology. In particular, Stone Home Garden presents the theme “Smell Beijing Expo” by transplanting nearly 1,000 seasonal flowering plants from around China into the garden. A plant preferring warmth than chilliness, Bougainvillea spectabilis welcomes visitors at the entrance to the garden. Aglaia odarata, which is noted for its special but pleasant aroma, can be found everywhere in the garden. Champaks and golden sweet-scented osmanthus, which present a smell feast, also stand out of plants in the Stone Home Garden and allure visitors with their sweet odors. More than 100 Chinese trumpet creepers, a species of plant symbolizing the “love of mother,” bloom in the garden, emitting strong fragrance that seduces every visitor. The honeysuckle, a medicinal herb included in Compendium of Materia Medica, is widely known for its effectiveness in clearing away heat and toxic materials. Blooming honeysuckles add a cultural touch of traditional Chinese medicine to the vegetation-covered garden.
In addition, sweet granadillas that are rare in northern Chin, as well as more than 500 paniculous supplejacks (also known as “firecracker flower”), will “attend” Beijing Expo 2019. By the time when the expo opens, those paniculous supplejacks will sprawl to every corner of the Stone Home Garden, presenting an impressive vista to tourists.
In the garden, visitors can taste natural tea in the tranquil Stone Home Garden. In addition to enjoying the fragrant aroma of camellias, tourists can also enjoy the famous Zhenxi tea in the Stone Home Garden, which has won the hearts of countless fans for its unique taste. On a sunny spring day, sipping a cup of fine tea will not only have its fragrance lingering in your mouth, but also help you shake off fatigue.
The Stone Home Garden is constructed by following the five themes of “Ecology, Science, Culture, Lifestyle, and Inheritance” and can comprehensively stimulate visitors’ sensory organs, thus bringing them into an old, beautiful green home where they can personally experience the marvelous collision between traditional Chinese culture and modern science and technology from diverse perspectives.
