How does a bouquet of Olympic awards show the convergence of Eastern and Western civilizations?

Flowers are one of the most beautiful things that nature bestows on human beings. They are closely related to human life and develop together with human beings and their unique emotional dispositions. When flowers meet the Olympic Movement, this not only allows one to witness a moment of glory, but also conveys a sense of yearning for peace.

Although the bouquets of the previous Olympic Games were made of different materials, they all reflected the Olympic spirit and the cultural characteristics of the host country or host city. From the " booming" bouquets of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to the "Never withering Olympic Flower" of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, they all inherit the Chinese nation's national spirit of unremitting self-improvement, unity and the constant pursuit of mutual understanding and friendship. The Olympic spirit of unity and fair competition conveys China's determination to keep its promises and join hands with other countries to develop a green, low-carbon and sustainable world.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics bouquet. Credit: Beijing State-Owned Assets Management Co Ltd

On the occasion of the Chinese Spring Festival coinciding with the Winter Olympics, we had an exclusive interview with Li Fu, a senior engineer at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Afforestation. As an expert in the field, she tells how traditional Chinese flowers such as Chinese roses spread their immortality in the Olympic Games, and how Chinese flowers promote communication between Eastern and Western civilizations.

Li Fu is senior engineer of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Afforestation and master student of landscape architecture planning and design. She has been engaged in landscaping-related work for 15 years and has set up a column called "Li Fu Appreciating Flowers", dedicated to introducing the development of landscaping and flower culture in Beijing. She also participated in designing the 2008 Beijing Olympics bouquets and the flower exhibition in the main press center.

Since the ancient Greek Olympic Games, the bouquet has become an indispensable "flower of honor" on the podium. In the modern Olympic Games, bouquets appear on the podium in a more colorful form, becoming a window for each host country to display its unique culture. Why do flowers play such an important role in this event held for all human-beings?

More than 2000 years ago, the Greeks used the olive branch to symbolize peace and weaved it into a wreath for the winner of the ancient Olympic Games. It was the only and highest reward an athlete could receive at that time. The olive wreath carries the recognition of the strength of people and conveys the yearning for peace and hope. In the development of the modern Olympic movement, the flowers used to celebrate the victory of the Olympic Games have been continuously improved, and the ornamental elements and connotations have continued to be enriched. They not only offer blessings to athletes who win the medals, but also express the culture of the host country.

For example, in the 2004 Athens Olympic games, the olympics returned to its hometown after a long wait of 108 years. As one of the symbols of the ancient Olympic Games, the olive wreath has become a significant sight in the Athens Olympic Games. This bouquet is made of olives, gerbera and goldenrod as the main flowers, and is woven with olive branches and leaves. The bouquets made of olives reappeared on the podium of the Olympic Games, reflecting the heritage of Greek traditional culture. What's more, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was held during the pandemic. The bouquet is called the "Victory Bouquet", and the flowers are all from the earthquake-stricken areas of Japan, echoing the Tokyo Olympics' Rebuilding the Olympics concept and having the desire for revival.

In fact, not only awards bouquets, there are also ceremonial bouquets, welcome bouquets, guest corsages, indoor flower arrangements at the Olympic Games. It can be said that the love of flowers is in human nature. Whether in the East or the West, flowers are things for people to admire and are "beautiful messengers" for people to express their emotions. With the development of human society, flower culture contains more information about cultural diversity and the commonality of civilizations. Therefore, in global events like the Olympic Games, flowers have become a meaningful form of expression.

Beijing is the first "Dual Olympic City” in the world. What kind of emotion did China convey with flowers in these two Olympic Games?

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was the first time that China hosted the Olympic Games, and the century-old Olympic dream of the Chinese people has come true. I have had the privilege of working on the Olympic award bouquets and ceremonial flowers. In order to make the flowers express the joy and confidence of China hosting the Olympic Games, the production team came up with many fantastic ideas and finally selected the "Booming" award bouquet as the one for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which not only took into account the requirements of the height and safety of the award bouquets set by the International Olympic Committee, but also subtly integrated traditional Chinese cultural elements.

The "Booming" bouquet is in the shape of a spire, and consists of 9 main Chinese red roses, 6 other flowers and 6 branches of leaves. It is intended to say "wishing things go smoothly for a long time". While conveying beautiful meanings, it expresses the blessings and expectations of the Chinese people for the Olympic Games.

July 2008, staff at the Beijing Olympic Flower Distribution Center are packing the just-made award bouquets into boxes. The center was responsible for the design, production, and distribution of 6000 bouquets of award flowers for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. Credit: China News, Xin Liu

China is known as the "the Mother of Gardens", and the range of selectable materials for bouquets is comprehensive. There are three reasons for choosing the Chinese rose as the main flower: First, the fiery red and gorgeous rose not only matches the feeling of the Chinese people at that time, but also expresses blessings to the Olympic athletes; secondly, as one of the city flowers of Beijing, the Chinese rose embodies the garden style and cultural heritage of the capital city of China; thirdly, the rose can be described as a "messenger of peace", spreading love and peace to the world. The rose is not only the city flower of Beijing, but also the national flower of some European and American countries.

At the 2012 London Olympics, the main flower used for the award bouquet was the rose that is characteristic of the United Kingdom, combined with lavender, rosemary and wheatears. The outlined graphic symbolizing the emblem of the 2012 Olympic Games through color blocks was called the "Victory bouquet."

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, you can still see the beautiful and enthusiastic figure of the Chinese rose. The Winter Olympics bouquets are not fresh cut flowers, but "Flowers of Velvet" crocheted with a traditional Shanghai wool-knitting technique which is an intangible cultural heritage of China. Among them, the selection of rose flowers echoes the bouquets of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, showing the cultural heritage of the "dual Olympic cities", while the selection of olives is a tribute to the Olympic tradition.

On January 4, 2022, in Shanghai, more than a dozen members of the Mother Workshop are arranging bouquets for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The bouquets at the Beijing Winter Olympics have changed from traditional flowers to crocheted flower bouquets with an intangible cultural heritage - Shanghai-style woolen knitting techniques. Credit: China News, Yanjun Tang.

Flowers have been integrated into people's lives, expressing emotions and conveying spirit. In the course of human development, what role did flowers play in the cultural exchanges between the East and the West?

It isn't easy to verify when China started planting flowers, but its culture has a long and profound history. China's earliest collection of poems, The Book of Songs, is the first source of literature praising flowers. It drew its inspiration from the comparison of flowers, so that flowers can be used to describe objects. People used flowers and trees for social etiquette at that time, and plants such as peony were used to convey love. Flowers have different cultural connotations in Chinese and Western cultures. In ancient Chinese writings, natural things are often endowed with personal images. In the West, writing about flowers is more about using flowers as an opportunity to arouse emotions or a symbol to express thoughts.

This difference is also reflected in garden designs. In the arrangement of plant landscapes, Chinese people reflect the beauty of artistic conception, and they also respect and adapt to nature. Western culture respects scientific rationality, so it pursues formal beauty and artificial beauty in the designs and layouts, such as neatly pruning trees and paying attention to the regularity of geometric patterns.

July 2015, visitors to the Suzhou Garden Museum learning about the history and culture of the Suzhou gardens. Credit: China News, Jiankang Wang

There has been more interaction between Chinese and Western flower cultures over recent years, and the Western "Plant symbolism" has been accepted by many young people. Take the Chinese rose as an example; in traditional Chinese culture, the rose symbolizes youth and longevity. Now, it symbolizes love and peace. This is the new meaning of the rose after it was introduced to the West.

This 2022 Winter Olympics meets the Chinese New Year. It is a special Spring Festival and a special Winter Olympics. What do you think of China hosting the Olympic Games twice in just over ten years?

In recent years, with the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges between China and the West, people's appreciation of flowers are both colliding and blending with each other.

January 18, 2022, with the Spring Festival approaching, citizens came to Kunming Dounan Flower Market to buy flowers to celebrate Chinese New Year. Credit: China News, Jiaxian Li

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games put forward the three concepts of "Green Olympics, Technology Olympics and Cultural Olympics". In the past ten years, Beijing and the whole country have made remarkable achievements in environmental, scientific and technological innovation. Today, environmental concerns have become the background of the Winter Olympics, and high technology is showing its capabilities. During the pandemic, China is ready to host the Winter Olympics, allowing athletes from all over the world to enjoy this sporting event.

In my opinion, the natural development between people and flowers is like a way of getting along in this world, with mutual respect, complementarity and mutual assistance. People around the globe are making the world more harmonious through openness and cooperation. This is the most beautiful wish of all ofhumankind.