The Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival came back after a year of absence. Today (Dec 3), it made a debut at the No. 2 Seed Improvement and Propagation Station in the Xinshe District. The theme for this year is "Heart Blossom," with 200,000 plants and more than 19 species of colorful flowers and plants adorning a large themed flower carpet. There is also a market with healing elves in the style of Provence in southern France. On the first morning of the opening day, it attracted thousands of visitors for photos and check-ins. "It's like going to southern France without going abroad!" stated Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu, and welcomed the public to come to Xinshe for the overseas travel experience and feel the beauty of "Provence in Taiwan."

Mayor Lu indicated that they paused the Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival last year because of the epidemic, and the whole country is looking forward to its resumption. Fortunately, the epidemic situation has slowed down and lockdowns have gradually been eased. Today, the Festival made a colorful debut in Xinshe at the request of the public. The exhibition is on for half a month, from today to December 18. She thanked legislator Chi-Chen Chiang for his coordination of the Council of Agriculture's offer to lend three hectares of land. With the joint efforts of the municipal government team, local associations, and catering and B&B operators, the public can enjoy flower carpets and explore Xinshe.

Mayor Lu introduced that 200,000 plants and more than 19 species of flowers are planted for this year's flower carpet festival, covering an area of two hectares. In addition to the vast sea of flowers, there are also dozens of hectares of corn fields around the area, which are very beautiful. She also said that this year's flower carpet festival is accessible via shuttle buses, with free shuttle buses service in many places, which makes the visit more convenient for people. Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of this service.

In addition, they also launched five featured tours of lightweight travel this year, including green lifestyle, fruit picking, romantic handicrafts, the hometown of red wine, and aboriginal tribes. It gathered 31 B&B in the mountain city to cooperate, inviting visitors to the flower carpet festival, and deeply experience the characteristic countryside of Xinshe. Therefore, without having to go abroad, everyone can experience the beauty and comfort of Provence, France.

The Tourism and Travel Bureau explained that the venue for this year's event is the No. 2 Seed Improvement and Propagation Station in the Xinshe District. The event will last 16 days until December 18 and is open for visits from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The exhibition area covers about two hectares, using 200,000 flower plants of more than 19 species including perpetual begonia, common poinsettia, sunflower, etc., to create a large-scale flower art installation. It includes the main flower carpet, "Hope Manor," and five creative theme exhibition areas (Flower Fairy, Boo Dragon, Maomao, Yuanyuan, Stepping into Happiness). Also, there are the main stage, " Provence in Xinshe," and the production and marketing cultural area, "Southern French Style." The on-site installation makes people feel like they are in the scenery of southern France.

The Tourism and Travel Bureau mentioned that the exhibition area welcomes guests with the "Heart Blossom" gate, and several lovely green buildings as the entrance image. The main flower carpet, "Hope Manor," is 10 meters tall, and there are several buildings in the manor that elves respectively inhabit. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day, when the main flower carpet show is on display, the elves will appear to greet the public. The "Flower Fairy," born in the lily cluster, is clever and cute. With different personalities, "elves" look for solutions to happiness in the happiness garden.

According to the Tourism and Travel Bureau, the production and marketing cultural area has a 120-meter-long southern French-style street. The Agriculture Bureau and the Council for Hakka Affairs invite local small farmers to exhibit and sell special agricultural products such as ponkan oranges, mushroom biscuits, and mochi to promote local culture. Every Saturday and Sunday, they plan magnificent performances such as a dance troupe, orchestra, magic show, creative music, and DIY activities on the main stage, letting the public enjoy a visual, auditory, and taste feast.

The Tourism and Travel Bureau appealed that the space is limited this year, and they cannot provide car parking. Tourists can take shuttle buses at the MRT Songzhu Station by using the parking lots around the MRT Green Line. The bureau planned for free-of-charge shuttle bus routes to include Fengyuan, Taiyuan, and Songzhu lines this year. On weekends, five loops between Dongshi and the venue are also available. People can take the MTR to Fengyuan Station and Songzhu Station and take the shuttle buses.

Furthermore, there are traffic controls in the exhibition area from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to encourage the use of public transport. Please visit the official website of Taichung International Carpet Festival for relevant traffic information https://www.flowercarpet.tw/, Taichung Tourism Network https://travel.taichung.gov.tw/. The Tourism and Travel Bureau also would like to remind everyone that masks must be worn on shuttle buses. Please also comply with epidemic prevention and hygiene measure in outside areas, protect yourself, and protect the health of others.

Mayor Lu held the opening ceremony today. And other guests, including legislator Chi-Chen Chiang and Chiung-Ying Yang, city councilor Ling-Xuan Ran, city councilor elect Chen-chia Wu, director of the Tourism and Travel Bureau Yu-Qi Han, director of the Agriculture Bureau Jing-Qiang Tsai, director of the Transportation Bureau Chao-Fu Ye, director of the Civil Affairs Bureau Shi-Wei Wu, director of the Information Bureau Zhao-Xin Zheng, vice chairman of the Council for Hakka Affairs Rui-Shen Wei, chief secretary of the Economic Development Bureau Shi-Ling Ni, director of the Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station of the Agriculture Committee of the Executive Yuan Ding-Lin Zhang, the goddess cheerleader of CTBC Brothers Baseball Club Jun-Jun, the "mascot of Taichung City" Tiger Mother, the district executive of Xinshe Lin Shu-Hui, the district executive of Shigang Su-Xing Liu, the district executive of Dongshi Pei-Zhen Weng, the district executive of Dongshi Yi-Zhen He and others announced the event launching together. City councilor Cheng-Gui Tsai also sent representatives to participate in the event.