Objective  Since the reform and opening up, China's rapid urbanization development has brought about many undesirable construction phenomena, such as urban brownfield, ecological destruction, the disappearance of local culture and the uniformity of cities. Under this background, it becomes increasingly common for China Garden Expo to be sited in destroyed urban and rural abandoned plots, industrial transformation plots and urban renewal areas. The 13th China (Xuzhou) International Garden Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "13th China Garden Expo") is located in the ecological management area of quarry pits in Lüliang Mountain, Xuzhou. With a long history and rich culture, Xuzhou has made significant achievements in green development, and become the first non-provincial capital city among all Chinese cities ever to hold China Garden Expo. Summarizing Xuzhou's achievements in the planning and design of the 13th China Garden Expo is a concrete action to implement the important instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his inspection of Xuzhou, which can provide a reference example for the transformation and development of cities fallen under the same category with Xuzhou in China, and is beneficial to encourage many non-provincial capital cities to participate in the undertaking of the expo, to play Xuzhou's transportation location advantages to highlight the garden expo effect, and to further show the development experience of Xu-Style gardens to the world.

Methods  By referring to historical literature, this research summarizes and sorts out the regional characteristic cultural system, combines with related planning interpretation and field research to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of and problems and challenges faced by the site, and finally explores the planning and design concept and method of the 13th China Garden Expo after multiple rounds of scheme deliberation.

Results  1) The 13th China Garden Expo connects the whole city through the "1+1+N" mode, strengthens the boundary effect of the expo, displays new ideas and concepts of urban construction in the new era based on the construction of expo garden, and stimulates the radiation capacity of urban areas. The planning and design of the 13th China Garden Expo are based on the theme of "great beauty and great comfort in endless life", integrated with the concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, and rooted in Chinese excellent traditional culture, which seeks to realize the highest realm of "Great Harmony" advocated by Confucianism. Meantime, it adheres to the principle of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and works on ecological restoration and cultural inheritance through the construction of expo garden, in hope of contributing to the goal of seeking happiness for the people, rejuvenation for the Chinese nation and great harmony for the whole world. 2) The 13th China Garden Expo integrates the eastern and western civilizations to show the great beauty of the world, and is laid out under the overall goal of exploring the connotation and highlighting the charm of Xuzhou. Specifically, "Xiumanhuaxia Corridor", "Canal Cultural Corridor", "Xu-Style and Han-Rhyme Corridor" and "Children's Recreation Center" are built in alignment with mountain terrain, forming the overall design layout of "three corridors and one center", and leading the planning and design of public gardens relying on multiculture. 3) In terms of road traffic planning and design, such new elements as traditional carriage lane, modern battery lane and future innovative unmanned lane are added to the design of local traffic network, so as to show the traffic experience of integrating the past and the present and moving towards the future. Meanwhile, the road system involved in the overall layout of "three corridors and one center" adopts different colors to show the unique cultural connotation of Xuzhou. 4) The construction of buildings across the expo garden embodies the latest contemporary science and technology, with the buildings represented by the Visitor Service Center (green building + active building), Comprehensive Hall (green building + life building), Lüliang Pavilion (prefabricated building) and Children-Friendly Center (green building + healthy building) practicing the whole process of green construction. 5) In terms of plant planning, the poetic Chinese plant culture and the native plant landscape in northern Jiangsu are taken as the keynote of the whole Expo garden, based on which new and superior plant varieties are introduced, and the refined plant cluster design is carried out to create diverse plant spaces. The Expo Garden displays the ecological attributes, historical and cultural charm and aesthetic characteristics of plants, calling for the harmonious return of human and nature. 6) After the exhibition, to transform the Expo Garden into a national 5A tourist attraction, the Expo Garden, under market-oriented scientific operation and management, integrates multiple functions such as conference and exhibition, leisure and vacation, science popularization education, and science and technology events, making the 13th China Expo Garden a benchmark project for independent innovation, self-production, joint operation and sustainable development, and achieving the vision that the Expo will never end.

Conclusion  The 13th China Garden Expo is ingeniously sited, with a distinctive layout of three corridors and one center, and the Expo Garden is a first-class boutique garden project built in close combination with local natural conditions of real mountains and water. With the concept of green construction and cultural inheritance running throughout its planning and design process, the 13th China Garden Expo successfully turns a wasteland into a wonderland, and it will, through ecological restoration of the historical area of quarry pit, enable "lucid waters and lush mountains" to truly realize people's yearning for a better life. Meanwhile, it will become one of the "golden and silver mountains" for people to realize the transformation of ecological value, an important starting point for building a beautiful China, and a new chapter of harmonious coexistence between human and nature.