Discover the Flora of Sichuan on Flower Holidays to China

For keen amateur botanists, professionally-organised flower holidays offer the opportunity to encounter a vast array of endemic floral species they would not normally have access to. Destinations for flower holidays are as diverse as Australia, Chile and Madagascar, but perhaps the most mysterious and exotic of all is China. As a more 'off-the-beaten-path' destination, it opens up an entirely new world of flora and fauna.

Travelling in small groups and accompanied by a qualified naturalist, flower holidays to the vast and fascinating Sichuan Province take participants in the footsteps of the early botanists – many of whom made some of the most important botanical discoveries in history.

Sichuan Province

Sichuan Province, in China's far western region, is a fascinating location for botanical research. At the turn of the twentieth century, pre-eminent plant experts travelled here to study the many unique plant species and, ultimately, brought them to the gardens of the rest of the world.

Sharing a border with the high mountain ranges of Tibet, the landscape is also defined by the low-lying subtropical plain known as the Red Basin, or Sichuan Basin. The dramatically diverse topography of the province supports one of the most extensive rare and exotic temperate floral collections anywhere in the world.

Beyond the Red Basin

Blessed with extremely fertile soil and moist, humid climatic conditions, the plain of the Red Basin is densely populated and industrialised. However, not far from the capital of the province, Chengdu, lies an area of great beauty and botanical interest – the Pitiao Valley.

Aside from being home to the Woolong Nature Reserve (China's largest and most famous Giant Panda Reserve), the region supports a plethora of alpine wildflowers – amongst which are numerous varieties of the lovely Meconopsis species, found in the Balang Shan pass.

Enclosed within a swathe of imposing mountains (including the massive Gonga Shan), the valleys, forests and grasslands of Kangding are rich with bio-diversity, supporting countless wildflowers including species of Primulas, Meconopsis, Pedicularis and vast tracts of rhododendrons.

The Wildflowers of the Tibetan Plateau

Exploring the high altitudes of the Tibetan Plateau reveals a wealth of floral species throughout the mountains, valleys, forests, grasslands and meadows that comprise this awe-inspiring landscape.

Among myriad floral species that will be encountered are Ligularia liatroides, Primula tangutika, Stellera chaemojasme, Soroseris, Cremanthodium and a huge range of Gentiana and Pedicularis species. Around the many lakes and streams numerous exquisite species of slipper orchids (Cyprediums) decorate the banks, and the surrounding slopes are awash with red, blue and yellow Meconopsis.

Sichuan Province – A Compelling Destination

In addition to encountering some of the most exotic floral species on the planet, by nature of their itineraries, small group flower holidays to Sichuan Province immerse participants in a truly intriguing culture, as well. Highly influenced by its Tibetan heritage (it was part of that country until last century), this little-known province is both fascinating and botanically abundant in equal measure.

Author Plate

Marissa Ellis-Snow is a freelance nature writer with a special interest in wildflowers. As a passionate lover of botany, Marissa chooses the expert-led flower holidays organised by Naturetrek, which have brought her unforgettable encounter with a wide range of plant species in some of the most spectacular regions on Earth.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.