The First Beijing Agriculture Carnival kicked off in Changping district at the Strawberry Expo Garden in Xingshou township on Saturday.

The carnival, which runs until May 12, highlights the latest technological advances and key projects.

Visitors can see an array of produce in all shapes and sizes. Fruit and vegetables, including thumb-sized cucumbers, pumpkins weighing more than 50 kilograms, as well as produce grown in space, will be displayed.

Nearly 300 enterprises from home and abroad will attend the event, and up to 800,000 visitors are expected. The carnival is expected to bring about 400 million yuan ($64.4 million) in direct economic returns for the district.

Tang Ai, 32, and her husband, drove their two daughters from Haidian district on Sunday. The family started the tour around 1 pm before heading toward the amusement park for children at 4 pm.

"My younger daughter is only 6. She was amazed by so many different kinds of tomatoes," Tang said.

Chen Yu took a bus ride together with his 4-year-old son and his mother-in-law to the carnival. After they arrived at 1 pm, they went to the strawberry fields.

Chen said he knew about the carnival from news reports.

"My son finds the exhibitions very interesting," Chen said, while playing a video game that simulates the operation of aerial seeding carried out by helicopters.

One booth invites people to paint cartoonlike images, such as the angry birds, with grains in different colors.

Each family can participate and take their finished art home after a payment of 25 yuan.

At another booth, Zhi Xuhong, 25, presents his sculptures created from food products. He can carve a turnip into a flower within 10 minutes and the God of Longevity was created from a sweet potato.

Zhi used to work for high-end restaurants but is now passing on his skills as head of a carving training school.

"People approached me, especially adults. Some asked me to teach them. They are interested because they saw in real life the things they had known only from TV," Zhi said.

Another popular booth showcases machines that can test the level of harmful substances, such as pesticide residue in food products.

Leng Xizhuan, 32, is a project manager from Paide Science and Technology Development Co. They offer solutions to agricultural modernization via precise computer-based management and mechanization.

Precise management uses computer-based monitoring and remote sensing systems to help crops grow under optimal conditions of light, water, temperature, humidity and irrigation, Leng said.

Leng said his company has signed partnership deals with large-scale agricultural producers in Heilongjiang province and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"It is unlikely that we will find potential partners at the carnival, because most visitors are Beijing residents. We want more people to know the hottest trends in agriculture and bring some practical knowledge back home, such as household and office greening tips," Leng said.

Changping, located in northwest Beijing, is well-known for its hot springs and the Great Wall.

Strawberry cultivation and production has been a leading industry in the district.

The carnival also features a photography competition, which will receive submissions until April 25.

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(China Daily 03/25/2013 page7)