Xianhu Botanic Garden is located on Xianhu Road, Luohu District in Shenzhen. It lies on the east of Wutong Mountain, west of Shenzhen Reservoir. It covers an area of 546 hectares. Founded in 1983, it has been officially open to the public since 1988. Xianhu Botanical Garden integrates plant collection, research, scientific popularization, tourism and entertainment together. It is one of the important bases for ornamental plants research in China. It was rated as the National 4A Class Scenic Spot in 2007.
Introduction of Xianhu Botanic Garden
Xianhu Botanic Garden has been known as a heaven for harmony and peace for years. It is designed as a classic Chinese garden with more than 8,000 kinds of plants.
The whole park is divided into six major scenic areas: including human and earth area, lake area, temple area, desert plant area, fossil forest area, pine-cypress and rhododendron area. There are many small attractions, such as Liangyi Pavilion, Yudai Bridge, Longzun Tower, Tingtao Pavilion, Lansheng Pavilion, Butterfly Valley and the unique paleontological museum.
There are also 21 special plant gardens, such as cycad center, magnolia garden, rare arboretum garden, palm garden, bamboo area, shade plant area, desert plant area, aquatic plant garden, peach blooming garden, gymnosperm area, and bonsai garden.
Xianhu Botanical Garden aims to raise the public's awareness of protecting the plant diversity. The science popularization work combines the society, science and interests together.
Highlights in Xianhu Botanic Garden
Built in 1985, Hongfa Temple was the first temple built in China after the founding of PRC in 1949. In August, 1990, with the approval of the Shenzhen government, Hongfa Temple was open to the public as a venue for religious activities. Since then, it has become the most prosperous Buddhist temple as well as the largest-scale Buddhist temple in Shenzhen.
Fossil Forest Area was built in 1997, which covers 20,000 square meters. There are over 500 fossil woods, which are introduced from Liaoning, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia Provinces. The fossil woods were formed during the Mesozoic era. Due to plate motion of continents, nearly all the trees were imbedded under the ground. After millions of years, these trees turned into the fossil woods. The Botanic Garden is a good place to learn the history and origin of lives.
Paleontological Museum is a multifunctional museum, where collects and displays the fossil samples of animals and plants. The shape of the museum looks like the skeleton of a giant dinosaur. More than 9,000 fossil pieces are exhibited here.