The 2021 Beijing International Garden Festival kicked off Wednesday at the Beijing Expo Park, drawing numerous visitors to the site of Beijing Expo 2019 – where the world's largest-ever horticultural expo event took place.

The annual event has been an extravaganza for floral and garden designers as well as plant and nature lovers since its launch on April 28 of last year.

Its second edition is running under the theme of "Green Life, Beautiful Home," offering an immersive exhibition highlighting the aesthetic and practical functions of the gardens.

Spanning a total area of around 60,000 square meters, this year's festival features a floral landscape of over 40,000 square meters, gardeners from different countries such as China, the UK, Germany and Japan, as well as garden design contests.

A total of 30 exquisitely designed gardens created by designers at home and abroad are also on display in the first round at the festival, presenting various themes and functions, such as for picnics, afternoon tea, fashion, pet-themed and parent-child spaces.

"We hope to offer an immersive experience for visitors to this year's festival so that they can enjoy the beauty of nature and horticulture here," said Yang Yongjie, director of Beijing Shiyuan Investment Development Co., Ltd., the operator of the expo park.

The Beijing Expo Park, located in the capital city's northern suburbs, hosted over 170 cultural events and received roughly 400,000 visitors last year. This year's garden festival runs through October 15.