Sister City Activity

Elliserie Garden Show 2014

Winning a Silver Award at the New Zealand Sister Cities Conference

Category:

Best cultural sport or recreation project

The organisation submitting the entry:

Christchurch China Sister Cities Committee

 “How are you, My dear sister?”

Gardens can not be entered in the Ellerslie International Flower Show by individuals, so Erin approached the Christchurch China Sister Cities Committee. When the committee met her and had her talk through her design, it was very enthusiastic about the whole project, and working alongside Erin and her helpers entered it in the Flower Bed Competition section at the Ellerslie International Flower Show held in Christchurch, 26 February – 2 March 2014.   

Erin had all the garden structures made for her in China during her visit there in late 2013, and over a period of several days she and a number of Chinese engineering students at the University of Canterbury were involved with the construction of the garden. Their work was supervised by their engineering lecturer, and counted towards their qualifications. Other Chinese student colleagues of hers from Lincoln University and volunteers including some sister cities committee members assisted as well.

All gardens were judged over two days, and the committee and Erin were delighted to receive the news that the garden had been awarded a Silver Medal by International Flower Show judges, using international judging standards.

The garden cost approximately $3600 to construct. The Ellerslie International Flower Show contributed $500, and $3000 was given by the Wuhan Government with a further $800 plus coming from plant sales at the end of the show.  Donations of timber, compost, tools etc were also made by various local businesses.

The garden was viewed by thousands of visitors, giving a high profile to Christchurch’s sister city link with Wuhan, including mention of the garden in the official Ellerslie International Flower Show brochure, plus a prominent picture of the garden design which Erin had drawn. Several hundred colourful flyers giving details of the garden and the value of the sister city relationship were given away at the garden by a team of volunteers over the five days of the show, and at the same time the opportunity was taken to talk to visitors of the value and activities of the sister city relationship. 

The garden was a huge success and proved to be very popular with visitors, and the fact a colour photo of it appeared on the front page of The Press is testament to that. It has given a high profile to the value of the sister city relationship to the people of Christchurch, and the awarding of a Silver Medal will accentuate that. The Wuhan Government will be supplied by the committee with a report on the garden project, as well as many pictures, which they intend using in Wuhan to educate their citizens about their city’s relationship with Christchurch and its benefits.

Outline and Description

Objectives: the ultimate goal was to create a garden which illustrated and raised the profile of the strong sister city people to people link between Christchurch and Wuhan, Hubei Province, China with the residents of both cities and their surrounding communities. This goal was achieved and acknowledged when the garden was awarded a Silver Medal. The standards required for Silver Medal awards are set very high and are the same throughout the world for all International Flower Shows.

Activity Details:  Erin Diao, a Lincoln University student of landscape architecture and Wuhan born’s aim was to design and build a garden which illustrated, to quote her “…the Christchurch Cathedral and Yellow Crane Tower, both are iconic images from each city, represent the long-standing history and culture …the Avon and Yangtze Rivers differ greatly, but the beauty of each city is a bond between their residents. The living water flows, running from the spring, which symbolizing the origin of Avon River, another waterway origins from mountain, which stand for Yangtze River source. The plants color on each part are also meaningful. The area around tower features with warm and hot color skin, as Wuhan city is famous for its hot weather and spicy food as well. In contrast, from Christchurch part, the dominant tone is cool and cold with upright and tall plants surrounding cathedral, stressing tranquil and harmonious atmosphere in Christchurch. In the middle part, filling with rich color block, represent the profound friendship and communication between two cities.

Erin had models of the ChristChurch Cathedral, the famous Wuhan Yellow Crane tower and four bridges made in China during her visit there in late 2013. She brought them back to Christchurch in kitset form and she and her fellow students constructed and painted them. They then sourced the balance of the materials i.e. timber, tools, paint, piping, compost etc locally. Over a period of several days she and her university colleagues and several volunteers, including members of the China sister cities committee worked with her to make the garden a reality.      

Resources:  the project cost $3600. The Ellerslie International Flower Show management contributed $500, $3000 was given by the Wuhan Government and over $800 was recovered at the end of the show with plant sales. Various local gardening and hardware companies also donated timber, compost, tools etc.  

Community Participation:  several Chinese engineering students at the University of Canterbury and other Chinese colleagues of Erin’s were involved with the construction of the garden over several days. The work of the University of Canterbury students was supervised by their engineering lecturer, and counted towards their qualifications. Further help came from friends of Erin’s, Christchurch-China sister cities committee members and volunteers from the Keep Christchurch Beautiful gardening group. During the show, two volunteers from various gardening groups, her homestay father, members of the committee etc were at the garden at all times, to answer questions, hand out information flyers etc.

Awareness:  the garden has given a high profile to Christchurch’s sister city relationship link with Wuhan, which was further boosted by mention of the garden in the official brochure, including a prominent picture. Several hundred colourful flyers giving details of the garden and the value of the sister city relationship were given away at the show to the many visitors. This gave committee volunteers the opportunity to explain to Christchurch residents the details and advantages of the sister city relationship. It is fair to say that of all the flower bed entries, this is the one which attracted the most attention.  The level of awareness was illustrated by a colour photo of the garden on the front page of The Press.

 Benefits:  the value of the sister city relationship has been brought to the attention of both the people of Christchurch and in fact to visitors from all over Australasia. There was a very pleasing visitor interest in hearing about the sister city relationship. Erin was on site for most of the Ellerslie International Flower Show, which certainly gave visitors a real buzz to be able to talk to the designer of the garden. Information as well as a number of photos regarding the garden and its success will be forwarded to the Wuhan government, which will use them to publicise the advantages of the sister city relationship to the citizens of Wuhan.