Qinling National Botanical Garden in Xian
Qinling National Botanical Garden, the world’s largest with an area of 639 square kilometers (247 square miles), has opened since September 27th, 2017. Located in the northern slope of Qinling Mountains, it is the “biological gene bank” of China and with an altitude variation of over 2,500 meters (8,200 feet).
Type: Gardens & Parks, Botanical Garden, Plants
Address: Zhouzhi County, Xian, Shaanxi Province
Best Seasons: All year around
Recommended Visiting Hours: about 4 hours
Popular Activities: mountain hiking, photography
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 17:00
Why is Qinling National Botanical Garden So Special?
- Qinling National Botanical Garden, planning a total area of 639 square kilometers, is the area of the largest botanical gardens in the world.
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Qinling National Botanical Garden is the large integrated by the Shaanxi Provincial Government, the State Forestry Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an municipal government to build a joint national Botanical Garden.
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It is the “biological gene bank” of China and with an altitude variation of over 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), it will also be the botanical garden with the most diversified plants and clearest vegetation zones all over the world.
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Travelers can try a lot of featured activities like walking, hiking, photography to catch the best scenery of Qinling.
Where is Qinling National Botanical Garden?
Located in the northern slope of Qinling Mountains, it is the “biological gene bank” of China and with an altitude variation of over 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), it will also be the botanical garden with the most diversified plants and clearest vegetation zones all over the world. Qinling Botanical National Garden is located in Zhouzhi County, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of downtown Xi’an.
Function as a biodiversity protection, scientific research on Biological Diversity, biodiversity science popularization, the biodiversity travel.
Qinling National Botanical Garden is the large integrated by the Shaanxi Provincial Government, the State Forestry Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an municipal government to build a joint national Botanical Garden.
How to get to Qinling National Botanical Garden
Travel with ChinaDragonTours (top recommended)
If you want to get out of the traffic and hassle of navigation, you can book a private tour package that includes visiting, dining and transfer from us. Our local guide and driver will escort you to the Qinling National Botanical Garden in the fastest and most convenient way and take care of all the details. You just have to focus on the visiting.
Independent Traveler
Take Huan Shan Tour Bus No. 1 from the North Square of Big Wild Goose Pagoda during 07:00 and 14:00 and get off at Caishen Guli Station. A one-way ticket costs CNY 12.
Main Attractions in Qinling National Botanical Garden
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Mulberry Garden 桑园
Covering an area of 2.6 acres, the countryside atmosphere of this zone mainly cultivates mulberry trees, fig trees, paper mulberries and other moraceae plants. The best time for a visit is from late spring to early summer or from May to mid June where visitors may also pick mulberries besides appreciating the plants. -
Orchid Garden 兰园
It is a specialized park in Qinling National Botanical Garden as it mainly exhibits dendrobium and orchids, with a plant coverage rate of 70%. Dendrobium is a kind of most valued Chinese herb medicines while orchids with special fragrant have been favored by Chinese literati for a long period. The park is set in a courtyard style, combining grass and flower. The orchid grows under the trees and in the grass, which is suitable for photo shoot or sightseeing throughout the year. -
Rock Plant Garden 岩石植物园
This park is a shrubland, cultivating mainly Chinese wolfberry and pseudo-ginseng as well as some pine and cypress. The plant coverage is over 80%. Rock plants usually grow in the rock cracks, on the rocks, or on the thin layer of earth on rocks. They do not like water, so advanced drainage system has been built in this zone. The best time to visit would be in spring and summer from March to August. -
Gingko Garden 银杏园
Numerous gingko trees are cultivated in this zone, covering about 90% of the area. Gingko tree is a world-famous ancient living fossil plant. The best time to visit is November when the garden is dyed golden yellow, a very impressive sight indeed. -
Aquatic Plants Garden 水生植物园
It is filled with wetland plants of more than 200 species, including royal water lily, lotus and Iris tectorum. The best time to visit is in summer from June to August. -
Peony Garden 牡丹园
There are more than 100 varieties of peonies in this Peony Garden which measures 2.7 acres in the Qinling National Botanical Garden. The rate of peony coverage is 60%. The best time to admire the colorful peony blooms is from April to early May. -
Greenhouse Hall 温室馆
There are about 5,000 kinds of plants collected in this hall of 3.6 acres and divided into five zones –Tropical Rainforest Zone, Dwarf Plant Zone, Aquatic Plant Zone, Desert Plant Zone and Leisure Zone. It serves as a large leading base for both science education and sightseeing in China. -
World Expo Hall 世博馆
The World Expo Hall in Qinling National Botanical Garden is a special region to show national flowers and garden styles of other countries. -
Paleontology Hall 古生物馆
It is a world-class science hall covering a wide area of 7.4 acres. It is creatively designed to imitate the appearance and size of paleontological plants and their living environment. There visitors can admire the living scenes thousands of years ago with the help of advanced technologies like sound, light, and electricity, etc.
Recommended Visiting Route
Qinling National Botanical Garden scenic area is divided into two lines: plant translocation reserve (line 1) and Qinling grand canyon scenic area (line 2).The plant translocation protection area is mainly plain, hilly, shallow mountain landform, observant flowers enjoy mountain landscape, suitable for family, visitors of all ages. Qinling grand canyon scenic area mainly for the original canyon and water landscape, vegetation primitive, dense forest, suitable for mountaineering, scientific research, exploration and hiking friends. Due to the long journey and great physical exertion, it is recommended that you visit the Qinling grand canyon scenic spot on line 2 in the morning and the plant translocation reserve on line 1 in the afternoon. The visit will take about one day.
Best Time to Visit
According to the different flowering seasons of plants, the garden holds a variety of flower shows each year, such as Tulips Show in spring, Lotus Show in summer, Chrysanthemum Show in autumn, and Plum Flower Show in winter, when it is the great time to appreciate the sea of flowers.
Nearby Attractions
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Louguantai National Forest Park
Louguantai National Forest Park was built in 1982. It is one of the twelve national forest parks approved by the Ministry of Forestry and the first forest park in northwest China. Laozi statue of Louguantai was designated as a national level by the Ministry of Forestry in 1992, and was rated as one of the top ten scenic spots in Xi ‘an city in 1997. The park covers 27,500 hectares. - Heihe National Forest Park
Shaanxi Heihe National Forest Park is located in Zhouzhi County, the headstream of Heihe River. Heihe National Forest Park is praised worthy as the “Northern Shangri-la”. The park land embraces unique natural scenery, human landscape and abundant resources of wild animals and plants. - Qinling Wildlife Park
Xi ‘an Qinling Wildlife Park is the first wildlife park in northwest China. It is a comprehensive garden project integrating the functions of wildlife removal, science education, tourism and vacation. There are a variety of animal species, beasts, birds, amphibians and reptiles, its huge animal population, the number of northwest are the largest.
Useful Tips
1. Information
March 16 – October 31: CNY 65
November 1 – March 15: CNY 45
Opening Hours：09:00-17:00
2.Note
Kids younger than 6 (included) or under 1.2 m (3.9 ft, included) can enter for free.
Teenagers between 6 (not included) to 18 (included) are entitled to half price.
3.Transportation
1. Take bus 37, get off at Botanical Garden Station and then enter via West Gate.
2. Take bus 270, 602, 607 and get off at Changming Road – South Third Ring Hub Station. Walk east in around 4 minutes to the East Gate of Xian Botanical Garden directly.
3. Take bus 701 and get off at Miaojiazhai Station. Then walk toward east around 1 km (0.6 mi) to the West Gate of the garden.
4.Parking
there are two parking lots outside the park, east and west, with a total of 1,000 parking Spaces for the convenience of the public. The parking fee is 10 yuan.Self-driving cars are not allowed in the garden. Visitors can take a sightseeing bus at the gate of the botanical garden.If you come to visit, arrange a day is the most reasonable.
