This year's Lion Mountain Horticultural Festival of Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) was held on campus on Nov 23.
This year's Lion Mountain Horticultural Festival opens on Nov 23 at Huazhong Agricultural University. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
The festival attracted hundreds of students, faculty and staff members and visitors from all walks of life. Featuring rich and diverse activities, it highlighted HZAU’s characteristic horticulture discipline, the latest scientific research results and their applications.
Gao Chi, secretary of the CPC HZAU Committee, participated in the activities, sharing his joy with HZAUers and the public.
In the citrus tasting area, nearly 150 high-quality varieties from 29 test stations across the country were on display.
Through on-site QR code ratings and variety evaluations, people could understand the market potential of new varieties of fruits and vegetables.
Various kinds of citruses are on display at the festival. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
Cheng Yunjiang, dean of the College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, said that many of these varieties embody the research results of a team led by Academician Deng Xiuxin.
He said, after years of dedication, Deng's team has successfully cultivated new varieties of citruses with stronger disease resistance and better quality, promoting the combination of green agriculture and precision agriculture.
There were also garden art exhibition and interactive sessions such as creating art with flowers and leaves and making micro-landscape gardens.
The 'World in a Tea Cup' booth led visitors to sample distinctive tea beverages from five countries including Pakistan, Nepal, Rwanda, Azerbaijan, and Myanmar. Through the unique lens of tea, it builds a bridge for cross-cultural exchange, adding a rich international flair to the event.
Students enjoy the horticultural photos on display. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
Students create art with flowers and leaves. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
Traditional food with unique flavors such as popcorn, candied hawthorn skewer, sweet potatoes and Suanye, a snack of pickled fruits and vegetables from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, were presented.
A baked sweet potato is seasoned at the festival. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
During the festival, 147 job positions were provided by 31 leading enterprises in the landscape industry. At the booths, students holding resumes studied the job requirements on the posters, and communicate with the recruiters.
A recruiter (L) collects students' resumes at the job fair during the festival. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
Xu Qiang, director of the National Key Laboratory of Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Horticultural Crops and vice-dean of the College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences said, the festival not only showcased HZAU's academic, scientific and technological achievements, but also stimulated the students' interests in horticulture, broadened their horizons and enlightened their wisdom.
He added that the deep interdisciplinary integration of landscape architecture and forestry has promoted academic innovation, deepened the public's understanding of horticultural technology, and made people more aware of the importance of ecological protection and landscape design.
