BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Duan Xuefeng, an avid photographer, is probably one of the most devoted visitors to a vast horticultural park in northwestern Beijing.

He has been to the park of the Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition, a huge "green carnival," over 100 times. The exhibition, which lasted 162 days, wound up on Wednesday.

"I came to the park almost every week. Each time, I walk over 20,000 steps on my phone record. The park is so big," said Duan, a 56-year-old local in the Yanqing District, where the exhibition was held.

Duan took over 200,000 pictures of the park and captured moments of a sprawling area from its advent to closure.

"For a photographer like me, this exhibition is a precious opportunity to record history because it is unprecedented," he said.

The exhibition, occupying over 500 hectares, drew more than nine million visitors with more than 2 million plants exhibited.

"Taking pictures of such a big green project is like seeing a child growing up. I hope the heritage of the exhibition stays on. People should remember that a nice environment never comes easy, and all the efforts of greening and environment conservation should be cherished," he said, adding that he hopes the area will become a leisure park for locals and tourists.

Exhibition organizers said they will study international experiences on post-exhibition use of the park and explore how the park can be used during the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Gardening engineer Huang Huazhou, from Chongqing, said the exhibition enhanced his professional expertise and expanded his international vision. Huang helped design the British exhibition garden and in the process, he made friends with British horticulture designers.

The British garden exhibited over 8,000 types of plants, and its ingenious design won an award from the International Association of Horticultural Producers.

"I'm glad that I met with people who are just as passionate about horticulture art. Through our work, we hope the idea of living green and living better will spread farther across the world," he said.

With the closing of the exhibition, Guo Jia, deputy department head of gardening at the expo, could finally take a break. She and her colleagues have had quite a few busy months making sure the replacement of settings goes smoothly.

"In the international gardens area, we only had three days and nights to replace all the furniture and setting between different exhibitions. To make ready a new exhibition, thousands of items needed to be brought in and arranged in a short period of time," she said.

"My coworkers are all tanned up and slimmer, but we are proud to show what our country can achieve in the horticultural area and in its general green push," she said.