Kunming World Horticulture Expo Garden

Chinese name: 世界园艺博览园(Shi Jie Yuan Yi Bo Lan Yuan)
Location: 439#, Bailong Road, Panlong District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province
Ticket: Entrance Ticket CNY100.00
Estimated time of tour: full day
Recommended time of visit: all year round
Nearby attractions: Daguan Pavilion,Guandu ancient town,Dianchi lake, Jinma Biji Archway, Jiuxiang Caves, West Hill&Dragon Gate, Stone Forest, etc.

This botanic garden was the site of World Horticulture Expo in 1999. It is about 4km north of downtown Kunming. The Expo '99 ended in October 1999, the site now serves as a permanent gardening center in Kunming. The World Horticulture Expo Garden covers an area of 200 hectares and consists of 5 indoor exhibition halls (the China Hall, the Man and Nature Hall, the Green House, the Science and Technology Hall, and the International Hall), 6 theme gardens (the Tree Garden, the Tea Garden, the Bonsai Garden, the Medicinal Herb Garden, the Bamboo Garden, and the Vegetable and Fruit Garden) and 34 outdoor gardens.

The first scene visitors see after entering is the Grand Greenhouse. With total area of 3,630 square meters (about 0.9 acre), it includes four exhibition areas: the Tropical Plant Exhibition Area, the Temperate Plants Exhibition Area, Plants at High and Cold Elevations Areas (3,000 meters or more above the sea level), Exhibition Centre and Photos Exhibition Area.

Visitors then can proceed to Domestic Exhibition Gardens to the north. It is composed of 34 sections according to China's provinces and regions. With different characteristics, these provincial gardens stand in four lines. Walking forward to the World Horticultural Expo Garden, visitors enter the International Exhibition Gardens, which include 33 sections in total. The five big exhibition halls and the seven special gardens are located here.

Almost 3000 species of plants and are cultivated or transplanted at this garden. It is estimated that there are about 2 million plants on this site. Among them, 112 categories are rare and endangered species.

● Highlights of World Horticulture Expo Garden

International Hall

This hall used to house horticulture participants from around the world during the Expo. Now it is home to showcase plants and vegetations from different countries.

It locates at the east end of this park and covers an area of 11000 square meters. It is a two storage building complex with a huge glass dome in the middle.

Man and Nature Hall

This hall is almost 5000 square meters. The general layout of this hall resembles the shape of clover. It has three hexagon shaped chamber extending out. It was one of the main halls during the Expo in 1999 projecting the ideas that man and nature should co-exist in harmony.

China Hall

As hosting country of that event, China invested hugely on this project. China Hall was the biggest indoor exhibition hall of this park. It covers almost 20000 square meters. The complex was designed and constructed to resemble a traditional Chinese garden. It’s built in a way to resonated with the architectural style that of Han dynasty and of courtyard that are commonly found in south China.