Take you closer to the mysterious and magical Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden and primeval forest

Number of days: 25 days
Time: July
Average cost: 6,000 yuan
With whom：a person
Updated: 2023.10.16

Friends, do you want to know the area with the most complete, typical and largest tropical rainforest ecosystem in China?

Friends, do you want to know the most comprehensive, extensive and richest animal and plant morphologies and specimens in China?

Then come here - the beautiful, mysterious and magical Xishuangbanna.

This is the only original, uncarved tropical rainforest in China, where various animals and plants form a patchwork of natural primeval forests.

Here you can find the Parashorea chinensis trees that exude a mysterious, ancient and sentimental atmosphere, the thrilling "air corridor", the negative oxygen ion breathing area, as well as rare wild animals and endangered rare species.

Here are 1/4 of the country's animals and 1/6 of the plants. It is a veritable "Animal Kingdom" and "Plant Kingdom" and a museum showcasing the ethnic culture of the tropical rainforest.

Rare tropical plants and unusual ecological landscapes will surely dazzle you and bring you endless surprises; there are many wonders of the tropical rainforest, such as the “buttress root phenomenon”, “flowers on old stems”, “strangulation phenomenon”, “single tree forming a forest” and “sky gardens”.

This place gives people a sense of ease and pleasure of returning to nature and living in harmony with nature, allowing you to fully experience the scenery and interest of this "paradise" on the border.

Now, I will take you to the mysterious and magical Xishuangbanna, and write down the photos I learned and took in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Banna Primeval Forest Park into a travelogue and share it with everyone. You are all welcome to watch it.

1. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences is located in the tropical forest of Menglun Town, Mengla County, Xishuangbanna. Locals call it Menglun Botanical Garden. It was founded in 1959 under the leadership of Mr. Cai Xitao, a famous botanist in my country.

The park covers an area of about 1,125 hectares, collects more than 13,000 living plant species, has 38 specialized plant areas, and preserves an area of about 250 hectares of original tropical rainforest. It is the largest botanical garden in my country with the richest collection of species and the most specialized plant areas. It also is the botanical garden in the world with the largest number of outdoor plant species and the largest number of plant groups on display to the public.

The park is divided into two parts, the East District and the West District. The main attraction for tourists is the West District, which consists of several small botanical gardens. The East District is a long and narrow tropical rainforest, suitable for hiking. The distance between the East and West Districts is quite far, so tourists can take the scenic area's electric car to get there.

At the same time, the park also carries out some unique science popularization activities, such as Tropical Rainforest Exploration, Green Island Adventure, I Am a Strongman - Comparison of Light Wood and Heavy Wood, My Victoria Amazonica My Boat, My Secret Garden, Bird Watching, etc., which can increase the fun and knowledge of tourists during their trip.

Because the park is so large and has so many species of animals and plants, and due to space constraints, I will only introduce to you several of the park's main representative attractions and various hard-to-see or even extremely rare animal and plant phenomena.

National Tree and National Garden

The garden was established in 1999, covering an area of 20 mu. It collects and displays 58 kinds of national trees and flowers from 80 countries that are suitable for local growth, such as the national flower of Myanmar - the dragon boat flower, the national flower of Laos - the frangipani, the national flower of Belgium - the azalea, the national flower of Libya - the pomegranate, the national flower of Madagascar - the flamboyant tree, etc.

Garden of Exotic Flowers and Trees

The garden mainly collects various tropical exotic flowers and trees, which are divided into fruit-viewing plant area, herbaceous flower plant area, variegated and leafy plant area, inductive plant area, and stem-viewing plant area, etc., and collects 254 kinds of exotic flowers and trees, including old stem flowering plant worry-free flower, fruit-viewing plants miracle fruit, wood milk fruit, cocoa, etc., stem-viewing plants with swollen stems bottle palm, bottle orchid, elephant leg tree, Buddha belly tree, etc., the world's largest flower Aristolochia giant flower, the peculiar and gorgeous red passionflower and golden cup flower, herbaceous plants shrimp flower and sunflower, variegated and leafy plants red mulberry and white-edged agave, inductive plants dancing grass, mimosa and clock flower, etc.

Aquatic Botanical Garden

The park collects and displays about 100 species of aquatic plants from tropical regions, and plants aquatic plants with different life forms according to the water depth and other aquatic microenvironment and plant ecological habits. These include floating-leaf plants, i.e. aquatic plants with leaves and flowers floating on the water surface, such as Victoria amazonica, water lily, Euryale ferox, and Nymphaeaceae; floating plants, i.e. plants that drift with the water flow, such as Rain Flower, Azolla, Eichhornia crassipes, and Salvinia americana; submerged plants, i.e. plants with roots growing in the soil and usually with linear or ribbon-shaped leaves, such as Dermatophyte, Utricularia truncatula, and Black Algae; emergent plants, i.e. aquatic plants that usually grow in shallow water or by the water, such as lotus, taro, water chestnut, Zeaxanthin, sugarcane grass, calamus, arrowhead, and yellow iris.

Wild Orchid Garden

The garden is mainly engaged in the research on the introduction and domestication, preservation and cultivation, and biological characteristics of orchid plants. It has collected and preserved nearly 200 species of wild orchid plants such as Dendrobium, Vanda, Gruiss, Bamboo Orchid, Fritillaria, Nail Orchid, Spider Orchid, Papilio, Wet Lip Orchid, and Feather Lip Orchid.

A single tree forms a forest

In the tropical rain forest of Xishuangbanna, there is a tall tree called the big blue tree. Due to the damage to the bark of its huge branches, aerial roots will grow on the injured part under shady and humid conditions. After these aerial roots grow into the soil, they quickly absorb water and nutrients in the soil and grow up quickly to become trunks supporting thick branches. There are dozens of these trunks as few as a few dozen, and hundreds of them as many as a single tree, thus forming the spectacle of a single tree forming a forest.

Strangler tree phenomenon

When some animals carry banyan seeds to the branches or bark cracks of trees, these seeds will germinate and grow adventitious roots, behaving like epiphytes. As the banyan tree continues to grow, its adventitious roots cross and fuse with each other, gradually wrapping and tightening the host tree, and using the host tree to support its own body. When these banyan trees gradually become big trees, their roots and stems have completely wrapped around the host tree, and the host tree eventually withers and dies due to lack of nutrition due to the jamming of the conductive tissue. This is the strangling phenomenon of plants.

Large buttress roots

In the tropical rain forest, some trees are not only tall and strong, very heavy, but also mostly are shallow-rooted plants, but they have to withstand the test of tropical storms, so in order to solve the problem of top-heavy and unstable standing, they wisely grow some buttress roots to support themselves. This kind of buttress root is formed by the abnormal secondary growth of the lateral roots of the tree. It is an additional supporting structure for tall trees, so it is called large buttress roots.

Flowers bloom on treetops

In tropical rainforests, flowers can often be seen blooming on the stems of trees. This phenomenon is called "flowers on old stems", which is also a special phenomenon in tropical rainforests. It is the result of the co-evolution of plants and animals formed in the long-term evolution of organisms. In fact, to put it simply, the trees in the tropical rainforest are too tall. If the flowers bloom on high branches, it will exceed the range of insects' activities and they will not be able to pollinate. But if they bloom on old stems, the height is also suitable, and insects can pollinate them. This is why flowers bloom on treetops.

2. Xishuangbanna Primeval Forest Park

Xishuangbanna Primeval Forest Park is located in a valley called Caiyang River, east of Jinghong District, Xishuangbanna, and north of Lancang River. The park covers an area of 26,310 mu and has a forest coverage rate of 98.6%. It is the best-preserved primeval forest south of the Tropic of Cancer.

Its natural advantages combine the magical natural scenery of the primeval forest with the rich folk customs, highlighting the three major thematic features of the tropical valley rainforest, the wildlife display based on peacock culture, and the folk customs display mainly based on the Hani and Aini people.

The first stop upon entering the scenic area is to watch the Dai dance performance and the release of peacocks. The performance venue is built on an artificial lake with two unique pavilions in the lake, one called Prince Pavilion and the other called Princess Pavilion. Legend has it that this is the place where Zhao Shutun and the Peacock Princess Lan Wuluona met and fell in love by the Golden Lake.

With the rhythm of music, fountains and smoke, the dance performance officially began. It mainly tells the mythical love story of the "Peacock Princess" Lan Wulona and the Dai prince Zhao Shutun, which is circulated in the Dai folk legend in Xishuangbanna. The moving stage on water and the wonderful performance of the actors are definitely worth seeing.

After the performance, it was time for the peacocks to be released. When the whistle sounded from the lakeside, peacocks were seen flying in groups of three or five from the other side of the performance venue. Each peacock flapped its golden wings, wearing a beautiful brocade robe, and flew across the lake. It was very beautiful.

After watching the peacocks flying, you can take the scenic area's sightseeing bus directly to the terminal station, Rainforest Big Hippo, which is not only the entrance to the tropical valley rainforest, but also the place for water splashing performances. If you coincidentally arrive at the right time, you can also see dancers in Hani costumes dancing and leading tourists in bamboo pole dances. At the same time, if you have time, you can also wait to participate in the water splashing activities.

After watching the dance performance, we walked across the suspension bridge and entered the valley rainforest scenic area. Not far away, a group of monkeys attracted many tourists to stop. Some fed the monkeys bananas, some fed peanuts, etc., which attracted monkeys of all sizes to scramble for food. It was a scene of harmony between man and nature.

Wandering through it, you can smell the sound of the brook, listen to the birds singing, see the towering trees with luxuriant branches and leaves, and some ancient vines entwined, blocking out the sun. What appears before your eyes is a green world full of vitality. Only when you are in it can you truly feel the originality and relaxation of nature, let you let go of everything, forget sadness and worries, make you intoxicated, and make you linger.