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Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden

Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XTBG) is located in Menglun Township, Mengla County of Yunnan Province, 80km away from Jinghong city.

 
XTBG was established in 1959 by Chinese famous botanists including Prof. Cai Xitao, who devoted all his life to related scientific research with remarkable achievements. Covering an area of 900 ha, this garden has over 10 thousand species of tropical plants in its 34 living collections, quite a few of which are rare elsewhere, forming a colorful botanical landscape. It is the largest tropical botanical garden in China.
 
XTBG is a comprehensive research institution engaged in biodiversity conservation and sustainable uses of plant resources, focusing on forest ecosystem ecology, conservation biology and resource plant development. Facilities available for scientific research include two national field research stations (Xishuangbanna Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem Station, and Ailaoshan Station for Forest Ecosystem Studies); laboratories for Biogeochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Plant Phylogenetics & Conservation Biology, Physiological Ecology; a Germplasm Bank for Rare & Endangered Plants; and a Herbarium of Tropical Plants, etc. Besides the headquarter in Xishuangbanna, an important division has been setup in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province.
 
Currently, XTBG has 260 staff members, including 164 scientific researchers and technical personnel. There are 47 senior researchers, 161 postgraduate students (47 of them are doctoral candidates) and postdoctoral or visiting scientists.
 
Over 10 thousand species of tropical plants are well preserved in its 34 living collections.
 
Since its establishment, XTBG has accomplished 698 scientific research projects; 13 important achievements were awarded ministerial or provincial prizes. Since the implementation of Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 17 monographs and 829 scientific papers have been published, 91 of them were published on internationally peer-reviewed journals; national patents were awarded to 11 scientific innovations.
 
Visitors can have a taste of “the mysterious fruit” that turns gradually from sources to sweetness; they can have a look at maytenin that they can kill cancer cells. There are many wild species, for instance, “the killer of plants”, a parasite that will kill its host; king lotus, which can bear a 20-kilogram child; Anthocephalus, which can grow ten times faster than the pine tree; Southeast Dracaena that can help to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and black rosewood that is worth USD3, 000 per ton. No wonder when people look on Xishuangbanna as a green gem, they do not forget to compare the Tropical Botanical Garden to the heart of the gem.

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