An 84-year-old camellia grower in the mountains of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, has been bringing new blooms to life using techniques and experience gained over a long life of dedication and craft.
When Huang Wenzhong retired from a career in traditional Chinese medicine, he leased over 13 hectares of forestland on Woyun Mountain in the suburbs of Kunming to start his camellia garden.
"This is a wild camellia. It has small, single-petal flowers, and the colors are not ideal. But as a breeding parent, it carries the genes of the Yunnan camellia," said Huang.
Although around one-third of the world's camellia species grow in Yunnan, only about 10 percent of the more than 30,000 camellia varietals have roots in the province.
"By combining camellias from both China and the Western world, we can cultivate a new generation of superior varieties, allowing the descendants to outshine their predecessors," he said.
Over the past 27 years, Huang has grown more than 300,000 plants from 200 domestic and international varieties and his camellia garden is now recognized as an important breeding site and seed bank for camellia varietals.
Cai Yanfei is a research fellow at the Flower Research Institute of Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, who is working on breeding new, high-quality Yunnan camellia varieties through broader, inter-specific and inter-generic hybridization efforts.
After studying woody flowers such as rhododendrons and roses in her early years, she finally chose camellia as her specialism and has come to see Huang's garden as a research goldmine.
"There isn't any sticky substance on it, so you can’t pollinate it right now. Propagating Yunnan camellias is particularly difficult. Essentially, they can only be propagated through grafting, which significantly affects their overall application," she said.
Breeding camellias can be particularly challenging, as they grow slowly, blooming only once a year with only two to three seeds per pod, according to Cai.
Over 10 years of research, Cai has only developed three new varieties, and her admiration for Huang’s skill as a camellia gardener is blossoming.
"Mr. Huang's camellia garden is a natural seed bank for our breeding work and is where we perform our hybridizations," she said.
84-year-old camellia grower brings new blooms to life in Yunnan mountains
Macao has been emerging as a global hub for conventions and exhibitions in recent years by exploring the enormous opportunities in the sector, driving the region to advance its economic diversification and embrace a brighter future.
Macao has received many awards this year, such as the Best Convention City (Asia) and the Best BT-MICE City, showcasing the recognition for and influence of Macao's exhibition industry.
More than 1,000 electronic game enthusiasts from all over the world gathered recently in Macao to participate in a esports themed event.
Su Zhili, organizer of the event, said that Macao's rich experience in hosting large-scale events, coupled with its good infrastructure, has driven him to choose the region as an ideal destination to hold such an activity.
"Macao has held many similar large-scale events. It has rich experience, and the facilities at the venue are relatively mature, so we can start our work comfortably," said Su.
During the first three quarters of 2024, Macao held more than 1,000 conferences and exhibitions in total.
"We will invite more professional, special conferences to be held in Macao and also cultivate more exhibition brands with international influence in Macao, so as to promote Macao's exhibitions to be more market-oriented, professional, international, digital and greener from various aspects. This is our goal," said Elaine Wong, member of the Macao Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute.
In addition, multiple large exhibitions and conferences, such as the Macao International Trade and Investment fair, the Macao Franchise Expo, and the International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum, are held regularly in Macao.
With the introduction of a series of policies and measures to facilitate the exchanges between the mainland and Macao, as well as the construction and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Macao's convention and exhibition industry will embrace more opportunities for development in the foreseeable future.
"We have such a good industrial base in the Greater Bay Area. The mode of 'Convention and Exhibition + Industry' not only integrates the industries of Macao, but also the industries of the Greater Bay Area. In addition, Macao actively integrates into the national development and plays a role in the Belt and Road. Why are we so confident in Macao's convention and exhibition sector? Because it is backed by the motherland, and the country gives Macao great support," said Alan Ho, chairman of the Macao Association of Convention, Exhibition and Tourism Sectors.
Macao emerges as global hub for conventions and exhibitions, driving economic diversification and international recognition
