The exhibition Botanical Glamour: Chinese Plants Sailing to the World was unveiled on April 18 at the China Maritime Museum. It is part of a series of thematic exhibitions on the Maritime Silk Road being held at the China Maritime Museum. The exhibition recounts tales of Chinese plants being transported across the Maritime Silk Road to the benefit of people worldwide.
Since antiquity, China has been a major agricultural nation with abundant botanical resources. Over the millennium-long history of the Maritime Silk Road, Chinese flora have formed a significant part of the cultural exchanges between China and other countries. This has profoundly influenced global horticulture and ecosystems, as well as economies, cultures and everyday lives.
The exhibition is organized into three parts: “Food of Paramount Importance”, “A Feast of Flavors” and “The Mother of Gardens”. They demonstrate how traditional Chinese crops gradually made their way onto the dinner tables of people around the world and became cultivated globally. They also illustrate how Chinese flora sailed across oceans and found their way to gardens worldwide.
The exhibition is jointly sponsored by the China Maritime Museum, the Secretariat of the Office of the Shanghai Municipal Afforestation Committee, and the Department of Ecology of the Lin-gang Administrative Committee.
The exhibition is open until July 29.
Source: Chinanews.com (Shanghai)
Photo Credit: China Maritime Museum