West China Alpine Botanic Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

West China Alpine Botanic Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The West China Alpine Botanic Garden is located in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province. Established in 1988, it was jointly built by the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the People's Government of Dujiangyan City (formerly Guan County). It is primarily known for the introduction and domestication of rhododendron species, as well as the conservation and public education of rare, endangered, and endemic plant resources.

The West China Garden aims to collect, preserve, and study rhododendron species from the Hengduan Mountains and Eastern Himalayas, along with rare and endangered plants, medicinal and ornamental plants, while also encompassing other important resource groups of scientific and economic value. After more than twenty years of development, the garden has become home to the largest collection of wild rhododendron species in Asia in terms of both the number of introduced cultivated varieties and their quantity. It currently preserves over 2,000 species of living plants and has initially established itself as the largest rhododendron-themed botanical garden in Asia, with the most extensive collection of original wild rhododendron species.

The West China Garden has developed 15 hectares of outdoor planted areas, 5 hectares of open-air nurseries, and 1,200 square meters of protected cultivation facilities. It preserves over 300 species of wild rhododendrons, including rare types such as the blue-fruited rhododendron, king rhododendron, brown-backed rhododendron, tree-like rhododendron, cuspidate rhododendron, balang rhododendron, and yellow-cup rhododendron, with a current stock of over 200,000 seedlings. The garden has also introduced 127 species of rare and endangered plants and nationally protected wild plants, propagating more than 8,000 plants. In addition, it batch-preserves over 100 types of rare plants, including tree ferns, Yunnan yew, Tibetan spruce, Himalayan longleaf pine, Emei fir, Sichuan larch, tetracentron, dove tree, cercidiphyllum, magnolia sinensis, Acer pentaphyllum, summer sweet, tropaeolum, Yunnan peony, andPodophyllum hexandrum.

Address: Moon Bay, Outside North Dujiangyan, Chengdu

Type: Botanic Garden

Recommended visiting time: About 0.5 hours

Opening hours:

Open all day

Ticket information:

Free admission.