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May 12, 2015

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Home » District » Songjiang

Tropical pavilion showcases the exotic

By Wang Yingfei | May 12, 2015, Tuesday | Print Edition

A new tropical plant pavilion inside the Chenshan Botanic Garden in the Songjiang District opened to the public last month, with an exhibition of more than 1,400 tropical plants from home and abroad.

The tropical plant center, located opposite the desert plant pavilion, covers 240 square meters and is encased in glass. It took one year to build. In addition to displaying tropical plants, it also sponsors educational programs for children.

Upon entering the pavilion, visitors are greeted with an array of pictures of tropical fruits such as rambutan, pineapple and avocado. Alongside the photos are educational placards about the fruits, native habitats and uses. For children, there are also questions about the fruit: Is the flesh of red rambutan also red? (Answer: no)

The pavilion also includes rainforest scenes. Tropical plants are displayed under different themes to guide visitors through this exotic plant world. 

The pavilion also has many interactive games and multimedia facilities for children. There’s a super screen using cartoons and virtual adventures to explore the plant world. Children can also use touch screens to learn more about plants.

Xu Yijia, 9, said he enjoyed playing a game where he could control the flight of a bee collecting honey from a flower.

“You need to be very careful,” he said, “because the bee may die if it lands on a thorn.”

Wang Songyan, director of the tropical plant pavilion, said there’s a Venus flytrap in the game which can catch flies and secrete a digestive fluid that will kill the insect.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the district’s botanical treasure trove, Fangta Park is taking steps to revive the health of the more than 300 Xiyang azaleas introduced in 1978.

The Xiyang azalea is a hybrid of Chinese and European species. Songjiang was one of the first regions to introduce the azaleas in China.

The 300 flowering shrubs planted when the park was first created have been doing poorly in recently years.

Songjiang


 

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