Dry Well Garden

Dry Well Garden

The Dry Well Garden Nature Reserve is located in Yuexi County, Anhui Province, covering an area of 4,000 hectares, with the core zone alone spanning 1,800 hectares. The reserve boasts a forest coverage rate of up to 93%, preserving large areas of relatively intact natural forests. In the marshlands at an altitude of one thousand meters, there grows a contiguous expanse of ancient purple willow forest spanning over 30 hectares and thousands of years old — truly a “rare wonder of China.” The reserve is rich in species diversity, with over 1,500 species of vascular plants, including more than 20 types under national protection such as the Dabie Mountain five-needled pine, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, and Liriodendron chinense, as well as rare plants like Du-zhi azalea, Daphniphyllum macropodum, and Magnolia cylindrica. It is also home to 72 species of amphibians and mammals, 123 species of birds, and 1,500 species of insects, among which are key nationally protected wild animals such as the leopard, Chinese giant salamander, small Indian civet, and Reeves's pheasant.

Dry Well Garden lies in the transitional zone between the northern subtropical evergreen broad-leaved mixed forest and the temperate coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest. Its unique geographical location and well-preserved forest vegetation provide an excellent ecological environment for the growth of wild resources. There are as many as 300-plus plant species available for development and utilization here. Gastrodia elata, musk, kuding tea, bracken, and kiwifruit are hailed as the “five treasures” of the reserve; valuable medicinal herbs such as magnolia bark, notoginseng, ganoderma, and schisandra are abundant; while wild vegetables like lang cai, mushrooms, daylilies, and wood ear mushrooms can be found throughout the woods.