Rare Plants Garden of Southern Shaanxi

　　The Rare Plants Garden of Southern Shaanxi is an approved project by the provincial government’s planning department. As a key planned construction project of both Hanzhong City and Hantai District governments, its preparatory work began in September 2002.

　　The garden is located in the northeastern suburbs of Hanzhong city, bordered by the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Han River to the north. Utilizing the undulating terrain of barren hills and a network of wetland water sources, the overall planned area covers 5,000 mu.

　　The completed first phase of the project spans 1,500 mu, divided into an ecological garden area, a rare plant cultivation zone, a precious flowers and potted plants scenic area, a man-made lake, central island, and beach bathing area for tourism, as well as a leisure and entertainment area consisting of a garden hotel, quadrangle-style villa clusters, and thatched cottage corridors. The project is designed according to national-level botanical garden standards, characterized by green ecology and the conservation of rare plants from the Qinba Mountain region, adopting a planar architectural layout that combines square and circular elements. To date, over 1,000 species of plants have been collected, transplanted, and cultivated here, with more than 3 million high-quality seedlings and flowers planted. Among them are over 2,000 ancient and rare valuable trees such as Han osmanthus, ginkgo, magnolia, crape myrtle, and nanmu, all over a hundred years old. There are also more than 12,000 potted plants with unique shapes, and over 150,000 high-quality woody and herbaceous flowering plants such as hibiscus, Bauhinia, trumpet creeper, azalea, cherry blossom, bougainvillea, champaca, and poinsettia. In addition, there are several lotus ponds covering dozens of acres and an economic gardening area planted with dozens of premium fruit varieties including peach, plum, citrus, apricot, and papaya.

　　After on-site inspections, plant and horticulture experts have commented that the Rare Plants Garden of Southern Shaanxi is a large-scale, high-end, and tasteful botanical exhibition kingdom, boasting a rich variety of premium and rare species. It serves as a model base for ecological environment protection and plant science education.