China is home to around 30,000 species of seed plants and 2500 species of forest trees. The most famous of these is bamboo, which covers about 3% of the total forest area in China. Most of this bamboo is located in the subtropical areas south of Yangzi River, and the best place to surround yourself by it is in Sichuan. Bamboo is the favourite nosh of the giant panda, and cultivated by the Chinese for building material and food.

Many other well-known plants are indigenous to China, including the rhododendron, lotus flower, magnolia, ginkgo, maple, birch, poplar and spruce. Rare azaleas bring tourists to Sichuan's Wolong Nature Reserve (p724) in summer, while the white and red Lady Slipper Orchid and rare,white-flowered Grantham's Camellia tree dazzle botanists in Hong Kong.For a good look at plants from China's north, visit Beijing Botanical Gardens  in Beijing.

China's diverse ecosystem supports a huge range of plant life; the tropical forests of the south; the desert and grasslands of the northwest; the coniferous forests along the Russian border; and the mangrove swamps along the shores of the South China Sea. The variety of plants in China is best appreciated by comparing the vegetation of |ilin province in the semifrigid north and Hainan province in the tropical south. It would be difficult to find one common plant species shared by the two provinces, with the exception of a few weeds.