Thousands of species of flowers and trees are expected to attract 10-million visitors to the China Shenyang International Horticultural Exposition, which opens its six-month run this Sunday.

A spokesman for the city government said the 246 hectare venue features two huge sculptures made of flowers, a hall of roses, which is the city's adopted flower along with international gardens dedicated to the flora of Japan, India, Russia, the Netherlands, France, the United States, Bolivia, Australia and Kenya.

Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, an old industrial base in northeast China, has built a special railway to the exhibition site which stands near the Qipan Hilly Area in the eastern suburbs about an hour from downtown.

Shenyang, which endures long, cold winters, was granted the right to host the expo from the Association of International Producers of Horticulture (AIPH) in September 2004. The city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, in China's far south is the only other Chinese city to host the expo.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2006)