If you decide to take a China River Cruise, one of the undoubted highlights
is the Menglun Botanical Gardens, also known as the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden.
Built in 1959 under the leadership of the famous Chinese botanist, Prof. Cai Xitao, this is one of China's most important botanical research centres and is a place of
serene beauty. Our morning visit will give you an up-close-and-personal look at these impressive gardens, and you will be able to get a glimpse at some of the many rare,
exotic, and endangered plant species here. Highlights include the 'Clock Flower,' which opens and closes with the sunrise and sunset, the 800-year old 'King of Tea Trees'
which provides the flavors for Pu'er red tea, and the 'Dancing grass' that delicately responds to sound.
View across a lake in the Menglun Botanical Gardens
What is Menglun Botanical Gardens famous for?
Thanks to its exquisite beauty, the gardens are famous with tourists all over the world. However, the garden is also famous for its scientific research and
preservation work.
There are two main sections here - the east and the west. The east section is where all of the scientific and research work takes place, and the west, where much of
your time will be spent, has been built specifically for tourist purposes.
Within the gardens, there are over ten thousand tropical plants preserved within its 34 living collections, with scientists working hard to protect our biospheres and
plant species. Some of the plant products are grown for commercialisation, with the medicine and cosmetics industries being just two of the areas that have made use of
the plant life growing here. During your visit, you may get the opportunity to inquire more about the hard work the researchers do here, and you might get the chance to
ask them more about the island's history.
What is there to do at Menglun Botanical Gardens?
Simply put, bask in the beauty of the gardens and scenery around you. There are thirteen special sections for you to visit, including the tropical fruit free section,
the spiceberry section, the rare plant section, and the famous flower and tree section. You can walk along the 'air corridor' through the garden's tall trees, get a
birds-eye view of the mountains and rivers surrounding the gardens, and get the opportunity to taste the delicious Menglun jujube, the Mansailong pomelo, and many other
mysterious fruits. There is much here to delight all of your senses, with fragrant aromas from the garden's exotics plants and fruits, rare sights of some of the most
exquisite, flowers and plants in the world, as well as the aforementioned tastes of fruits you may never have tried before.
With thousands of tropical plants spread across the 900 hectares of this fabulous botanical paradise, you are never going to see everything. However, you won't be
disappointed by your short time here, as you will experience moments of beauty that will bring you everlasting memories.
Menglun Botanical Gardens is a place of rare beauty and is often a part of many people's bucket lists. For those of you with a fascination for plant and tree life, as
well as a concern for the ecology of our planet,you should definitely make the effort to visit this fabulous part of China.
