Dongguan Botanical Garden

Dongguan Botanical Garden

Dongguan Botanical Garden is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Dongguan Botanical Garden is located in Nancheng District, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, covering a total area of about 420 hectares, with a planned garden area of 200.5 hectares. It faces the Municipal Administrative Service Center and Dongguan CBD to the north, borders Shuiliu Reservoir to the west, neighbors Tongsha Ecological Park to the east, and connects with Shuiliu Mountain Forest Park and Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Park to the south. Linked by regional greenways and other urban green corridors, it forms an ecological lung at the core of Dongguan City.

The predecessor of Dongguan Botanical Garden was the Banling State-owned Forest Farm of Dongguan County, established in 1958. It was renamed “Dongguan Botanical Garden” in 1998, and merged with “Green World Urban Park” in 2006 to become “Dongguan Botanical Garden.” It is a public welfare Category I institution under the Dongguan Urban Comprehensive Management Bureau. As a landscape botanical garden primarily focused on “plant conservation, science education, and eco-leisure,” it has been recognized as a “Dongguan Science Education Base” and a “Guangdong Science Education Base.” It also serves as the “Dongguan Research Base of the China Lychee Research Center at South China Agricultural University.”

In August 2016, construction of the botanical garden began on the former site of Green World Urban Park, following a botanical garden plan. Twelve specialized plant gardens have been preliminarily completed, including the Famous Trees and Flowers Garden, Rock Garden, Lychee Garden, Azalea Garden, Herbal Garden, Camellia Garden, Orchid Garden, Colorful Leaf Garden, Aquilaria Garden, Children’s Botanical Garden, Aromatic Plant Garden, and Rubber Culture Garden. Among them, the Famous Trees and Flowers Garden features attractions such as the Hundred Flowers Valley, Huafang Garden, Cherry Blossom Garden, Australian Plant Area, Succulent Plant Area, and European Terrace Garden. The newly built specialized gardens officially opened to the public on April 19, 2018. Through the development of these specialized gardens, the diversity of plant species and landscapes has been greatly enriched, providing citizens with a more beautiful eco-leisure space and adding vibrant colors to the enhancement of Dongguan’s beauty and urban quality.

The Children’s Botanical Garden covers an area of about 2 hectares. With ornamental flowering plants such as Bauhinia variegata, Cercis chinensis, and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, it creates a joyful landscape atmosphere. It includes a maze garden, vegetable and fruit area, fun plants zone, as well as activity areas like a sand playground and fitness playground, offering children an educational and entertaining natural space.

The Famous Trees and Flowers Garden spans about 27 hectares and is planted with rare and famous trees and flowers such as the Bodhi Tree, Baobab, Bottle Tree, Dragon Blood Tree, Parashorea chinensis, Ceiba pentandra, Antiaris toxicaria, Bretschneidera sinensis, Alsophila spinulosa, Camellia nitidissima, cherry blossoms, and China’s Top Ten Famous Flowers. It features attractions like Huafang Garden, Hundred Flowers Valley, Succulent Plant Area, Australian Plant Area, Cherry Blossom Garden, and European Terrace Garden, making it a great place to enjoy flowers, trees, and scenery.

The Rock Garden, originating from Europe, is a specialized botanical garden that showcases alpine, cliff, and rugged slope landscapes and plant communities, with rocks and lithophytic plants as the main focus. This garden covers about 2 hectares, highlighting the rich lithophytic plants of South China and the art of rock stacking. Based on terrain and habitat characteristics, it mainly plants plants from the Gesneriaceae, Begoniaceae, Melastomataceae, Crassulaceae, Cupressaceae, and fern groups.

Aromatic Plant Garden

Best viewing month: September

Aromatic plants are those that emit fragrance and can be used to extract essential oils. This garden covers about 6 hectares and is planted with aromatic plants such as Osmanthus fragrans (varieties: Autumn Osmanthus, Golden Osmanthus, Silver Osmanthus), Cinnamomum cassia, Litsea cubeba, fragrant roses, Brunfelsia latifolia, night-blooming jasmine, ylang-ylang, sage, and others, creating a captivating world of herbs and scents.

Camellia Garden

Best viewing months: February–March

Camellia, also known as tea flower, is listed among China’s Top Ten Famous Flowers and is highly valued by the global horticultural community. This garden covers about 1 hectare and is divided into a Camellia nitidissima area and a camellia variety area, featuring Camellia nitidissima types such as golden, lemon-yellow, and veined varieties, as well as various camellia cultivars including single, semi-double, and double-petal types.

Colorful Leaf Garden

Best viewing month: January

Colorful leaf plants are those whose leaves display significant colors differing from natural green throughout or during certain stages of the growing season. This garden covers about 2 hectares and is planted with plants such as Ginkgo biloba, Acer palmatum, Liquidambar formosana, Terminalia mantaly, Terminalia superba, Xerospermum noronhianum, Sapium sebiferum, Pistacia chinensis, and Cotinus coggygria. December to February is the best time to appreciate the colorful foliage in this garden.

Herbal Garden

Best viewing month: June

The Herbal Garden covers about 5 hectares. Inspired by leaf design, it cleverly uses leaf veins to divide planting zones and is categorized into 10 sections based on medicinal effects: heat-clearing herbs, exterior-releasing herbs, wind-dampness-dispelling herbs, diuretic and dampness-permeating herbs, tonifying herbs, hemostatic herbs, warming-interior herbs, astringent herbs, cough-suppressing and phlegm-resolving herbs, and other herbs. Medicinal plants are also planted along garden paths in floral displays. It fully showcases the abundant resources of southern Chinese medicinal plants and promotes traditional Chinese herbal medicine culture.

Orchid Garden

Best viewing month: February

Orchids are precious ornamental plants and one of China’s Top Ten Famous Flowers. This garden covers about 3 hectares and mainly collects and displays orchid species from genera such as Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum, and Bulbophyllum. It creates both indoor artistic orchid landscapes and outdoor naturalistic scenes, showcasing the elegance and diverse forms of orchids.

Aquilaria Garden

Best viewing month: July

Aquilaria, also known as agarwood or eaglewood, is a national second-class protected plant and the source of the traditional Chinese medicine “agarwood.” Since ancient times, agarwood produced in Dongguan has been considered the finest, hence the name “Dongguan Aquilaria.” The Liaobu Incense Market and the craftsmanship of making Dongguan Aquilaria have been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage. This garden covers about 3 hectares and focuses on collecting Aquilaria species and showcasing the culture of Dongguan Aquilaria, making it a culturally unique local theme garden.

Rubber Culture Garden

Best viewing month: December

Rubber is a natural substance derived from the latex sap of Hevea brasiliensis, a deciduous tree in the Euphorbiaceae family. The latex is collected through tapping, then coagulated and dried to produce natural rubber, which has a wide range of uses and is an important strategic resource. Dongguan Botanical Garden preserves approximately 4 hectares of rubber plantation — the northernmost distribution of rubber trees in China. These were planted in the 1960s by the Banling Forest Farm and educated youths sent to the countryside, in response to the national call to develop the rubber industry. Today, this rubber forest has become a unique scenic spot within the botanical garden, bearing the history of the Banling Forest Farm and telling the stories behind rubber.

Address: No. 99 Lüse Road, Nancheng Subdistrict, Dongguan

Type: Botanical Garden

Recommended Visiting Time: 2–3 hours

Phone: 0769-22985736

Official Website: http://www.dgzwy.com/

Opening Hours: 6:00–22:30

Admission: Free. Dongguan Botanical Garden is open to the public free of charge. However, individual charges apply for exhibitions, amusement facilities, and other commercial services within the park.

Nancheng Subdistrict: Covering an area of 59 square kilometers, Nancheng Subdistrict administers 17 community neighborhood committees, with a permanent population of 47,000 and a migrant population of 101,600. It serves as Dongguan’s new urban center and the hub for politics, economy, commerce, and culture.

Nancheng Subdistrict boasts a prime geographical location, situated in the middle of the Guangzhou–Hong Kong Economic Corridor. Major transportation arteries such as the Guangzhou–Shenzhen Expressway, Guantai Avenue, Dongguan Avenue, Technology Road, and Yanhe Road run through the district, while the city's Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Ring Roads span its area, forming a highly developed transportation network.

In 2005, the subdistrict continued to maintain rapid economic development... More details about Nancheng Subdistrict++