Beijing horticultural expo finishes filmmaking of botanical documentary

BEIJING -- Three months after the opening of the Beijing horticultural expo, a botanical documentary, "The Journey of Chinese plants", has been brought to completion and will meet audiences soon, said the expo's coordination bureau on Monday.

The documentary will have 10 episodes covering tea trees, mulberry, rice, soybeans, bamboo, gardens and flowers, and each episode will run for about 50 minutes. It will show the life journey of 28 plants through stories of how they have affected the world.

The film is an important exhibition for the expo and is expected to guide the audience to appreciate the modesty and gratitude that Chinese civilization has shown to nature through the exploration of the plant world, according to Zhou Jianping, executive deputy director of the bureau.

The documentary took the production team nearly three years to complete, and more than 200 people have participated in the making of this documentary.

A total of 133 photographers visited 93 regions in 27 provinces and cities in China and seven countries including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, India and Madagascar during the filmmaking process.

"We used cameras to record the stories of the plants and build up life archives for the plants via images. We gained reverence for life during the filmmaking process," said Li Chengcai, chief director of the documentary.

The Beijing horticultural expo, themed "Live Green, Live Better," is open until Oct 7 and features a vast collection of flowers, fruit trees, Chinese herbal medicines and plant landscaping techniques, as well as ideas for green development.