However, personal visions do have their place here and in other parts of the city.

I was taken on a tour of the 10 sq km wetland park in northeastern Changchun. The park is so vast that we had to use a cart and got just a glimpse of most of the 107 statues chosen for the annual sculpture show last year.

The international exhibition of this year, which opened at a new sculpture park in Changchun Jingyue Economic Development Zone on Aug 6, "will reach an unprecedented height, both in quality and quantity," according to organizers.

Out of more than 1,500 designs by some 400 sculptors in 102 countries and regions - far exceeding the participating entries and countries in previous sessions - 47 selected sculptures are being displayed, including 21 exhibits from abroad.

Among the sculptures submitted for display, which mainly used such materials as metal, cast copper and stone, those selected tended to focus on the theme of sports, health and life, a reflection of diversity and compatibility of culture, local critics say.

The annual event is expected to boost sculpture creation and reinforce the host city's leading position in the country in the art, says Guan Shusen, director of the zone's administrative committee.

It also helps boost the host city's culture industry and introduce it to the world, Guan noted, adding that hosting such an event will help improve the cultural literacy and taste in art among local people.

Changchun has hosted 12 international sculpture exhibitions and three world sculpture conferences since 1997.

"We need to hold high-level exhibitions to set trends in and contribute works, ideas and masters to the world's sculpture art, thus making Changchun a real art resort that is prolific in sculpture creation and gathering masters from around the globe," Guan says.

"We feel honored to host the 13th sculpture show this year and consider it a priority task in terms of promoting the city's cultural industry and advancing the construction of the Jingyue zone into a national pilot area for comprehensive reforms in the service industry," he says.

City officials estimate that the zone's service sector will realize 75 billion yuan in industrial output in 2015, with the cultural industry expected to take the lion's share, reaching 50 billion yuan.

It is obvious that Changchun wants all regions of the world represented in its sampling of sculptural styles and themes. That policy gives its sculpture selections a cosmopolitan flair.

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