Chungcheongnam-do

The Korea Floritopia 2009 in Anmyon-Do made its grand opening under the theme of “flowers, the ocean, and dreams” and wrapped up its long 27-day journey with great responses on May 20, 2009.
The participant list went on and on including 121 companies, organizations and governments of 22 nations. Since its official opening on April 24, a total of 1,982,538 visitors came and enjoyed what the exhibition had to offer. All in all, it was a wonderful success.
In fact, the West Coast of Chungnam was tragically hit by the unexpected oil spill of December, 2007. There was a huge risk that the sea would be labeled as a dark sea forever. However, in response to this were the eagerly helping hands of 1.2 million volunteers to help the sea return to its original clean sea status. This year's flower exhibition made a significant contribution to upgrading the image of Chungnam's West Coast and Anmyon-do and heightening the province's brand value. It also made the way to the newly earned reputation of Taean, which is known as “the land of miracles.”

Korea Floritopia 2009
Duration : April 24, 2009(Friday) ~ May 20, 2009(Wednesday) Total of 27 days
Place : The area around Kkotji and the arboretum in Seungeon-ri, Anmyeon-eup, Taean-gun county, Chungcheongnam-do Province, Republic of Korea
Theme : Flower, Ocean and Dream
Subtitle : The world that becomes brimful with flowers

Exhibitions and 15 Gardens by Theme in Korea Floritopia 2009
The ‘Anmyeon-do Island International Floritopia’ that had 7 Exhibitions and 15 Gardens by theme was held between Aprill 24 and May 20, 2009 and finished after a great success. The Floritopia on the site of 793,000㎡ near the Kkotji Beach Park was held under the theme of ‘Flower, Ocean and Dream’ and subtitles of ‘The world that becomes brimful with flowers’, ‘The Satisfaction of 1million Volunteers and the Future of Taean’. The Floritopia 2009 is said to achieve its original plan to avoid monotonous exhibition of flowers and provide diverse attractions like flower parks and gardens by theme. There were many performances and events such as folk games, B-boy performance, Samba performance, Magic performance using flowers and other events totally amounting to 281 during the Floritopia period.
Its Exhibition Space consisted of 7 exhibition halls, that was, Theme exhibition(2,622㎡), Flower of the Future exhibi- tion(2,400㎡), Exchange of Flower exhibition(2,400㎡), Wild Flower exhibition(1,309㎡), Flower Food exhibition(330㎡), Company exhibition(900㎡) and Fern exhibition(330㎡).
And there were the symbol of this Floritopia and 15 gardens with special topics, namely, Sea garden, Sotdae garden(Sotdae is a Korean word representing a pole signifying prayer for a good harvest), Hope garden, Sunrise garden, Into the fairy tales, Flower and butterfly garden, Surf garden, Tunnel of Bottle gourds Dreaming maid, Rose garden, Hub garden and Arboretum.
For example, a statue of a girl praying for the rapid recovery of the damaged areas caused by the Hebei Spirit oil spill disaster and a statue of a woman representing hope was made in topiary form in the Hope garden.
The daily audience on the average amounted to 40,741 and the maximum visitors over 80,000 a day and total audience of 1.1 million visited the Floritopia.


The Exhibition was Officially Approved by AIPH and the Korean Government
Officially approved by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) and the Korean government, the exhibition was an economic and environmental exhibition with no accidents and made history as one of the most exemplary exhibitions to beat other large-scale events in Korea.
There were seven indoor exhibition halls, 15 outdoor theme gardens, and 20 small gardens on a lot of a total 793,000㎡ on a vast plain surrounded by beautiful coast lines. The exhibition's major attractions include the topiary of Sungryemun (Korea's National Treasure No. 1), the grass tree “blossoming in fire,” the ice cream tulips that made their global debut, and other rare and precious contents.
The exhibition also fulfilled the original purport, which was to help Chungnam's West Coast raise its image as a clean tourist destination, which had been tarred since the oil leak accident in 2007. The success is proven by the enormous number of visitors that passed the target, two million. Mr. Kim Jong-gu, head of the organizing committee, commented that "We made full use of Chungnam's West Cost and its marvelous tourist resources and invested full-fledged efforts. The result was a success. The biggest and most rewarding outcome was that we were able to let the whole world know that Taean recovered its original clean sea after the oil leak accident."
At the closing ceremony, Mr. Lee Wan-gu, the provincial governor, said emphatically, “We are going to further drive Chungnam's growth encouraged by 1.2 million volunteers that worked on the oil-covered coast in 2007 and the many visitors that enjoyed and supported this year's flower exhibition.”

The Ongoing Queue of VIPs Home and Abroad
There were endless processions of important figures both home and abroad to visit and enjoy “the festival of 120 million flowers.” The government officials, industry practitioners, and high-ranking staff of the world's advanced horticultural nations such as the Netherlands, the U.S.A. and Japan visited the exhibition and gave it a confirmation as a global flower exhibition.
The VIP list contains the consul general and his wife of the Chinese embassy and the staff, head and the staff of Taian city, China along with Arai Shogo, governor of Nara, Japan and vice-governor and the staff of Jilin, China at the closing ceremony on May 20. In addition, 186 officers of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command, which signed a cooperation agreement with the exhibition's organizing committee, visited the exhibition and promoted the two nations' friendship.