The Yachang Orchid Nature reserve is called a garden because the orchids grow in such surprisingly high densities, festooning rocky outcrops and forming large patches that dominate the forest understory of the broad-leaved sub-tropical forest.

This natural abundance of orchids occurs in the 3,280 foot (1,000 m) high hills and limestone mountains in a remote part of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

With the new roads, this orchid garden can be reached in only six to seven hours from the provincial capital of Nanning, compared with the two-day journey that was previously required. The area’s remoteness, status as a provincial forest and low human population enabled this special place to escape attention, even of the foresters who managed the area. It is difficult to believe that in a country with 1.3 billion people, including 50 million in Guangxi, that such wonderful wildness exists, but it does.

The orchid garden was not recognized until 2004, when local forest bureau leaders attended a meeting and learned a bit about wild orchids, and then recognized that many of the flowers at Yachang were orchids and that their great abundance was special.

Most foresters are understandably better at knowing trees than orchids and other herbaceous plants. To the Guangxi Forest Bureau’s credit, the orchid garden and the surrounding orchid-rich area were quickly given protection as the Yachang Orchid Reserve in 2005.

The Yachang Orchid Reserve encompasses an 85-square-mile (220-sq-km) area, which ranges from 1,300 to 6,460 feet (400 to 1,970 m) in elevation. Thus far, 130 species of orchids and 2,400 vascular plants have been found in the reserve.

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