Having traveled to Beijing several years ago when the construction work for the 2008 games had just begun, I’ve been interested in following the progress leading up to the Olympics in August.

For most major events, the Olympics included, flowers are one of the elements people often take for granted.

Here are a few interesting facts about the flowers that will be used at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing this summer that I came across in Jennifer Hsiung’s blog on CCTV.com.

About 60 million flowering plants will be used to cover parts of the city for the August Olympics.

60 per cent of the flowers bred are from abroad

40 per cent are native to China.

1,500 Varieties. 132 Colours.

3000 bouquets will be given away to winning Olympic athletes, 4000 bundles to Paralympic athletes.

You can read the full article and view some interesting photos here:

Beijing Blooms: Olympic Flower Power

Image Credit: Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG).