


































Energy and Earth Science 
Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees 

ISSN 2578-1359 (Print)   ISSN 2578-1367 (Online) 

21 
 

Original Paper 

Cultural Inheritance and Innovation—Taking the Heilongjiang 

Garden Design of the Garden Expo as an Example 

Yanxue Li
1*

, Dawei Xu
1
, Shu Zhu

2
, Xiang Zhuang Meng

1
 & Jiefu Song

1
 

1
 School of Landscape Architecture, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China 

2
 University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia 

*
 Yanxue Li, School of Landscape Architecture, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China 

 

Received: January 25, 2021     Accepted: February 16, 2021    Online Published: March 17, 2021 

doi:10.22158/ees.v4n1p21          URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/ees.v4n1p21 

 

Abstract 

With the rapid development of social science and technology civilization, and the acceleration of 

urbanization, the requirements of urban landscape planning and design are also paying more and 

more attention to the design concept of “adopting measures to local conditions and putting people 

first”. Therefore, the inheritance and innovation of urban landscape planning and design based on the 

culture that can represent local characteristics is a respect for and inheritance of traditional regional 

culture, the integration of traditional culture and the culture of the new era, and the inevitable trend of 

modern landscape planning and development. This essay uses the Heilongjiang Garden Engineering 

Design Project of the Garden Expo as a case to carry out the regional landscape planning and design, 

inheriting the regional characteristics, and proposing the design concept of “nature and culture 

growing on black soil”, integrating the characteristics of white mountains and black water into the 

garden, and seeing the big from the small Interpret the characteristic landscape impression of 

Heilongjiang and provide a reference for the design of the exhibition garden project in the future. 

Keywords 

garden exposition, landscape planning, landscape garden, innovation 

 

With the rapid development of society, the improvement of living standards, the rapid development of 

urban construction, and the deteriorating ecological environment, people’s demand for high-standard 

urban landscape planning and design have become more and more obvious. Due to the different natural 

environments in various regions, various urban landscapes will be produced according to local 

conditions, and the design based on regional culture can fully reflect the evolution of the local 

historical, cultural and social structure. Especially in the rapid development of science and technology 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

22 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

in the contemporary era, it brings together contemporary science and technology and design concepts, 

integrates the local natural environment, customs, folk customs and historical context, and designs a 

livable in a way of inheriting the past, combining the contemporary, and innovating the future. The 

urban landscape is an inevitable trend in the development of urban landscape design. Because of this, 

an urban landscape planning and design concept and method that combines the integration and 

innovation of contemporary technology and culture with the background of regional cultural 

characteristics are indispensable. 

As a high-level platform for the centralized review of the landscape architecture industry in my country, 

the Garden Expo, excellent teams from all over the country are doing their best to present the best 

exhibition garden works to the public, each with its characteristics and benefits. As an important part of 

the garden expo, the city exhibition garden strives to display the local natural features, folk customs, 

and historical and cultural feelings within a limited space, so that visitors can realize the local 

characteristics of the city and truly serve as a window for the transmission of regional information. And 

the city exhibition garden also has a preliminary role in promoting the image of the city. 

As one of the city attractions exhibition parks, Heilongjiang Garden has won the Design Award, Plant 

Configuration Award, and Construction Award of this year’s Garden Expo. It shows the regional 

cultural characteristics of Heilongjiang with its unique cultural design and technology. The cultural 

inheritance and innovative design concepts and methods used in the process of garden ecological 

landscape design are worthy of our reference. Also, after long-term management and cultivation, the 

level of plant communities in the exhibition garden has grown well, and both ecological and landscape 

environmental benefits have been obtained. It played well. This paper takes the landscape planning and 

design of the Heilongjiang Garden of the International Garden Expo as an example to analyze the 

application of the design concept of “regional cultural creation, inheritance and innovation” in actual 

projects, and make theoretical and practical references for future urban landscape planning and design 

theory and actual project research. 

 

1. Background 

China (Chongqing) Garden Expo (Figure 1), placed from November 2011 to May 2012, located in the 

Longjing Lake area of Yuanyang Town, Northern New District of Chongqing City, with a total 

elevation of about 3300 mu, composed of 21 countries and regions A collection of 127 classic 

exhibition gardens in 30 cities and more than 80 of them are large-scale urban parks integrating natural 

and human landscapes. The Heilongjiang Garden is located in the northern garden exhibition area of 

the 8th Chongqing Garden Expo. It is hosted by the Housing and Urban-rural Development Department 

of Heilongjiang Province and co-organized by Qitaihe City, Jiamusi City and Hailin City in 

Heilongjiang Province. The theme of this year’s Garden Expo is gardens, making the city more 

beautiful. 

 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

23 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

 

Figure 1. Tour Layout of Chongqing International Garden Expo 

 

Heilongjiang Province is located in northeastern China and is the province with the highest latitude in 

China. It is not only a synonym for cold but also a granary and tourist attraction in the Northeast. It also 

has civilized relics and abundant resources. It is a tourist province in China, especially with heavy ice 

and snow. Large forests, wetlands, prairies, modern agriculture, and volcanic landforms. 

 

 

Figure 2. a) Location Analysis, b) Adjacent Garden Plan, c) Adjacent Garden Entrance Space 

Real Map, and d) Adjacent Garden Real Map 

 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

24 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

Heilongjiang Garden is located in the northern garden exhibition area of the International Garden Expo 

Park, with an area of 1754 m2 and a relatively flat terrain (Figure 2a). The design expresses the essence 

of the garden’s artistic conception with the special humanities and natural resources in the north and 

highlights the rigorous visual control axis of the garden. Through the contrast of black and white colors, 

the characteristics of the white mountains and black water are integrated into the garden, and the 

memory of the black soil is reminded. 

 

2. Planning and Design Ideas 

The Heilongjiang Garden takes “Mo Yuan Longjiang, Ecological Fertile Soil” as its design theme, and 

its concept of “Nature and Culture Growing in Black Soil”, which interprets Heilongjiang’s 

characteristic landscapes of ice and snow, large forests, prairies, and large wetlands. 

In Chinese, the word “MO” is composed of “black” and “land”. The black land is synonymous with 

Heilongjiang and a unique treasure in China. And MO means black, and black gold such as oil and coal 

is abundant in this vast black land. The word “YUAN” means the vast “Sanjiang Plain”. The three 

great rivers converge and accumulate to form this fertile soil. The ecologically fertile soil has nurtured 

the multicultural and characteristic humanities and customs of the Longjiang land. The 

exhibition-themed buildings are used as the main scenery. The four characteristics of Heilongjiang are 

reflected in the small and large, namely “big ice and snow”, “big forest”, “big wetland” “Prairie” 

ecological characteristic landscape impression. 

 

3. Overall Layout and Innovation 

Overall layout: The overall layout is designed with the unique characteristics of Longjiang’s natural 

and human resources as clues, focusing on the coordinated relationship of space, and the entire garden 

is within easy reach using natural layout and traditional Chinese gardening art techniques to integrate 

gardens and culture. As a whole, combined with the topography, landforms and the theme of this year’s 

Garden Expo “Gardens, make life better!”, it displays the characteristics of Heilongjiang’s ice and 

snow, forests, grasslands, and wetlands. The natural and cultural resources of the country are 

organically combined to create a unique picture of Northland scenery. 

Functional planning: Taking Heilongjiang's unique humanities and natural resources as clues, the 

whole park will comprehensively display Heilongjiang’s characteristic buildings and ecological 

landscapes through different themed spaces and system evolution relationships (Figure 3). The whole 

park is divided into four major functional areas, namely the theme building main scenic area, 

ecological forest area, wetland education park, and wilderness scenery area. The main attractions 

include “Forest Snow House”, “Boiling Below Zero”, “Longyin”, “Snow Castle”, “Birth Forest Green 

Creek” and “Black Soil Blessed Land”. 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

25 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

 

Figure 3. (a) Functional Zone, (b) Traffic Analysis, (c) Line of Sight Analysis and (d) Lighting 

Layout 

 

3.1 Theme Building Main Scenic Area 

The theme building “Forest Snow House” is the Heilongjiang Cultural Exhibition Hall (Figure 4(ab)). 

The architectural form adopts a low-rise structure and the shape is made of raw wood materials. It is a 

characteristic of Heilongjiang. The style and characteristics of wooden houses reflect the regional 

characteristics of Heilongjiang. The use of low-level structure and log materials to refine and sublimate 

modern Heilongjiang wooden residential elements. The wall of the building facing the population of 

the exhibition garden is black and white, reflecting the unique northern scenery of the Linhai Snow 

Plain, and the roof is in the form of thick snow. 

The “Dragon Yin” abstract black dragon style at the entrance of the whole garden serves as a point of 

view. It means the auspicious dragon takes off. The character “dragon” composed of five-color grasses, 

a characteristic plant in the north, is agile, generous, and natural, which means the dragon river takes 

off and plays a role of the spotlight. The wall facing the building is a black and white pattern, which 

plays the role in the topic. The roof of the building is made of white optical fiber material to form a 

thick snow form, reflecting the natural and simple regional characteristics of Heilongjiang’s “big ice 

and snow”. The enclosed form creates a waterfront courtyard space experience; the “boiling below 

zero” scenic spot (Figure 4 cd), “zero degrees” refers to the cold, and “zero degrees” reflects the 

characteristics of cold regions and the smoky atmosphere of life in the northern winter. The scenic spot 

takes the black wall as the background and the white birch trunk as the foreground. The contrast of 

black and white echoes the main architectural landscape. The columnar water flows out slowly, and the 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

26 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

mist formed is floating in the garden, misty and vague, like a boiling momentum, with a unique taste, 

which implies the vitality and passion of Longjiang people. This area embodies the regional 

characteristics of Heilongjiang’s “heavy ice and snow” and “big forest”. 

 

 

Figure 4. (a) The Large-Scale Design Plan of the Theme Building Wall Mural, (b) The Real Scene 

of the Theme Building Wall after the Construction Is Completed, (c) The Design Effect Drawing 

of the “Boiling under Zero” Scenic Spot and (d) The “under Zero” “Boiling” Scenic Spot after 

Construction 

 

3.2 Ecological Forest Area 

The dynamic and quiet landscape atmosphere is even more lingering. The natural and wild walks 

shuttle through the forest to form a sheltered place, creating a quiet and comfortable space. The 

gurgling stream shuttles under the forest and the river rocks are scattered around the stream, creating a 

picture scroll that integrates nature, ecology, humanities, and landscape. 

At the “Birch Forest and Green Creek” scenic spot, the smart water body constantly changes its posture, 

running through the entire exhibition garden, creating a series of interesting spaces for enjoying the 

water and being hydrophilic. The stream runs through the birch forest, and the river rocks are scattered 

around the stream to create a quiet and comfortable space. Gorgeous aquatic and wet plants grow on 

the banks of the gurgling stream, creating a picture scroll that integrates nature, ecology, humanities 

and landscapes, becoming a missionary garden that showcases the biodiversity of the Sanjiang Wetland; 

the “Black Soil and Blessed Land” attraction (Figure 5) ), the red “Fu” inscription, which means 

happiness and auspiciousness, the landscape is constructed through the winding stream combined with 

vigorous pine, the white and elegant birch, the elegant lilac and the rich Longjiang style. The relief 

emphasizes the theme and fully shows the dragon. Jiang Chun’s unsophisticated and unrestrained black 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

27 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

soil style. 

 

 

Figure 5. The Real Scene of the Black Soil and Blessed Land of the Exhibition Garden 

 

3.3 Wetland Education Park 

The agile body of water constantly changes its posture, running through the entire scenic spot, creating 

a series of interesting spaces for enjoying the water and being hydrophilic (Figure 6(d)). On the open 

water, there is a “boat” for people to rest and enjoy the scenery, and people can also play barefoot in 

the water, which is unique. Spectacular aquatic plants such as cattails, tower heads, and scallions grow 

on the banks of the gurgling stream, forming a characteristic landscape of the Longjiang “big wetland” 

and becoming a public education garden that symbolizes the biodiversity of the Sanjiang Wetland, 

enabling people to understand Wetlands, caring for wetlands. 

 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

28 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

 

Figure 6. (a) The Plan Design of the “Snow Castle” in the Exhibition Garden, (b) The Actual 

View of the Newly Built “Snow Castle” in the Exhibition Garden, (c) The Actual View of the 

“Snow Castle” in the Exhibition Garden Three Years after Its Completion, and (d) Exhibition 

Aerial View of the Park 

 

3.4 Wilderness Scenic Area 

Taking full advantage of the sight control of the road, and taking into account special groups of people, 

the corridor adopts a barrier-free design. As shown in Figure 6, “Snow Castle” is the main landscape 

sketch of the whole park. It is shaped like a pine cone. The upper part is a wooden grille, which is 

uneven. The lower part is made of snow-like prefabricated blocks of various sizes. The natural 

resources of Longjiang are organically integrated with the characteristics of human resources. The 

Wudalianchi volcanic rocks cover the ground, revealing simplicity, ruggedness and natural no 

decorations, which are in harmony with the “Snow Castle” building and the surrounding environment. 

The vigorous pine, the white and elegant birch, and the simple and elegant lilac, together with the dry 

reeds, form the scenery of the northern country in the south of the Saijiang River. 

3.5 Plant and Sketch Design 

Garden plant landscaping emphasizes the beauty of form, diversity and unity, and the beauty of artistic 

conception. The landscaping method also uses the borrowing method to combine the local native tree 

species with the regional characteristics to ensure the sustainability of the plant landscape. 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

29 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

According to the characteristics of the humid tropical monsoon climate in Chongqing, the seasonal 

landscape changes are considered as a whole for the whole park to achieve the effect of four seasons 

(Figure 6(d)). The selection of tree species is based on native tree species such as Osmanthus fragrans 

and Podocarpus eryngii, fully considering the color and shape of plants, emphasizing the seasonal 

changes of plants, and planting them in a reasonable combination; the plant space landscape 

construction is based on different topographic characteristics for planting. In the limited space, to 

reflect the regional characteristics, the northeast characteristic tree species white birch is combined with 

the aquatic plants with high ornamental value, and its aesthetic value is displayed in the landscape and 

ecosystem (the plant selection is as dry umbrella grass, celandine, lotus, etc.); small items such as signs, 

trash cans, etc., are designed according to the theme. The selection of materials not only pays attention 

to ornamental but also pays attention to functionality. Mainly scattered light, set up different types of 

lawn lights, underwater lights, color-changing lights, rare earth nano lights, etc. 

3.6 Features and Innovation 

The Heilongjiang Exhibition Garden, combined with site conditions, uses a limited space to fully 

demonstrate the unique local characteristics, promote the development of the local and surrounding 

areas, and provide citizens with a good outdoor recreational place. The main features and innovation 

are combined as follows: 

(1) The construction concept of the unique regional cultural landscape is novel and unique. Through 

in-depth research and analysis of the current situation of the Heilongjiang Exhibition Park, the design is 

carried out from a unique perspective. The concept is unique and innovative, which fully demonstrates 

the cultural connotation of Heilongjiang and the ecological characteristics of the north, allowing 

tourists from all over the country to have a more direct and appropriate understanding of 

Heilongjiang’s characteristic regions Features. 

(2) Innovation of material expression. While the landscape design method integrates regional 

characteristics, culture and space treatment, the organic components of landscape design such as the 

boiling below zero, the snow castle and the thick snow on the roof of the main building, pay attention 

to the new materials, technology and craftsmanship. Innovate, and make the limited space bigger, form 

a good spatial relationship and a good application of new materials. 

(3) To form a regionalized natural landscape, the regional characteristics must be respected. Through 

tracking and attention, we boldly tried and innovated the introduction of characteristic plant varieties. 

Besides, we followed the laws of nature, respected regional characteristics, adapted the trees to the site, 

and adopted measures to local conditions to form a good localized natural landscape. 

Garden makes life better! Combining with promote the improvement of the quality of urban 

landscaping and the development of horticulture across the country, promote the use of new materials, 

new techniques, and new concepts in landscaping, explore and practice new ways to organize 

market-oriented meetings, and guide the society to pay attention to the future harmonious human 

settlement environment Through the construction of this project, we will improve the ecological 



www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

30 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

environment of the city and improve the quality of people’s living environment. At the same time, it 

can promote the development of the national landscape design industry. Man is closer to nature and 

more harmonious with nature. 

 

4. Conclusion 

This article mainly introduces the concept of “regional cultural inheritance and innovation” into urban 

landscape planning and design. First of all, in the context of regional cultural heritage and innovation, 

analyze the overall conceptual design layout, mainly from the natural ecosystem environment; Second, 

analyze the overall spatial layout of the landscape, mainly from the two aspects of local natural 

resources and human resources analysis and integration; thirdly, under the concept of regional cultural 

inheritance and innovation, further specific design principles for the landscape planning and design of 

the garden expo, Design techniques, and design schemes provide a theoretical and practical basis for 

the landscape planning and design methods of the Garden Expo Park. Besides, this design fully 

embodies that the inheritance and innovation of modern garden design should focus on the 

development direction of modern urban construction, and at the same time combine the science and 

technology of the times and the regional cultural characteristics to shape its own regional cultural 

image characteristics. This design also provides a direction for the development of modern garden 

design and construction. 

 

Acknowledgement 

Support by Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province: Research on the protection and 

development of rural landscape forms in heilongjiang province (JJ2018QN0681). 

 

References 

Fan, Q. (2016). Narration of Featured Landscapes for Urban Culture. In E. Mcanally et al. (Eds.), 

Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Arts, Design and Contemporary Education 

(pp. 734-737). https://doi.org/10.2991/icadce-16.2016.177 

Li, L., & Huang, S. L. (2015). Functions and plant configuration of Wuhan Jiangtan Park. Journal of 

Landscape Research, 7(05), 41-44.  

Li, Z. X. (2014). Application of Plants in Chinese Garden Landscape, 10(5), 143-145. 

Liang, J., & Zhou, Y. (2017). Preliminary Study on Urban Street Landscape Design under Regional 

Cultural Background Based on Yuanlin Road, Jingzhou City. In E. Mcanally et al. (Eds.), 

Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Art Studies: Science, Experience, Education. 

Liu, H. (2017). Status Analysis and Vision on Urban Landscape Planning-Take Chengdu City as an 

Example. In Z. You, Z. Tan, & J. Ke (Eds.), 2nd International Conference on Materials Science, 

Resource and Environmental Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5005231 

 

https://doi.org/10.2991/icadce-16.2016.177
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5005231


www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees                    Energy and Earth Science                     Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021 

31 
Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

Yan, X., Guo, L., & Jiang, Y. (2016). An Analysis on Regional Culture in City Street Landscape 

Design (pp. 605-608). Issgbm International Conference on Information, Communication and 

Social Sciences.  

Yu, Z. (2018). Urban Garden planning and design and ornamental plant protection. Journal of 

Landscape Research, 10(04), 162-165.  

Zhao, Z., & Hu, X. J. (2014). Urban river landscape design based on regional characteristics—A case 

study of Jinxi River in hushan town. Journal of Landscape Research, 6(Z1), 13-16+19.  

Zhou, X. D. et al. (2014). Research on the design of community landscape planning under eco-house 

perspective. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 716-717, 541-544. 

https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.716-717.541 

Zhu, Z. J. (2011). Analysis of Heilongjiang Province Village Traveling Present Situation and Problem 

(pp. 146-152). Intelligent Information Technology Application Association. Education and 

Management(ISAEBD 2011 CCIS 210). Intelligent Information Technology Application 

Association: Institute for the application of intelligent information technology. 

 

 

https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.716-717.541

