Preparations, including construction, for the upcoming 2019 China Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition will remain eco-friendly and intelligent, with four main pavilions for the expo already completed, according to Ye Dajun, deputy director of the 2019 Beijing expo coordination bureau.

Set to open on April 29, the 162-day exhibition will host more than 16 million people from 86 countries and 26 international organizations. Located 10 kilometers north of the Badaling Great Wall in the capital’s Yanqing district, the expo park covers an area of 503 hectares.

Three ecological belts will line the expo park to provide leisure zones for tourists. A green area of 37.5 hectares around the pavilions will display many varieties of trees, including willows, spruces and locusts, Ye said.

Trees have already been planted in the designated places, he said. There will be 1.8 million flowers as well. An existing wetland has been renovated in the park to provide improved habitat for fish and birds.

Pavilion construction has also relied on green concepts. The International Pavilion, the largest in the park, was built with 94 steel columns shaped like flower umbrellas. Their special design allows them to collect rainwater from the roof.

“The water pouring down from the rooftop will go into a tank to be recycled for irrigation,” said Wu Guangda, construction team director at the pavilion.

The roof is equipped with solar energy panels to generate power when the park opens, he said. Power cables were installed on the roof to help melt snow.

About 1 km west, the China Pavilion, which will display Chinese gardening and horticulture, is half underground to better preserve heat and humidity, said Li Liang, designer of the pavilion.

Shaped like ruyi, a traditional Chinese decorative object symbolizing good fortune, the pavilion’s rooftop also features solar panels, installed to reduce the energy consumption of its underground air conditioning system.

Visitors will also find 5G technology and service robots at the expo.

Yanqing district is preparing various modes of transportation to the expo park. Sixteen trains from downtown Beijing to the park will run each day, said Wu Shijiang, deputy director of Yanqing district. Five bus lines will also open, linking the park to downtown Yanqing.

It will be the second high-level horticulture expo hosted by China, following one in Kunming, Yunnan province, in 1999.

Feng Yaoxiang, director of the investment promotion division at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said organizers have scheduled more than 2,500 cultural activities for the expo, as well as parades.