Hug the trees

Students from a Xishuangbanna kindergarten visit the botanical garden. [Photos Provided To China Daily]

Night hike

"Night hike" is one of the key nature education programs promoted in the botanical garden, especially in the summer, Wang says.

As a major designer of the program, Wang gave a training course to nearly 30 tour guides of the garden in late May, at the beginning of the firefly season. "Firefly watching is a selling point of our night tour," Wang tells China Daily in a meeting room for the training.

According to him, it takes about two hours for a typical night hike. Participants - not only children and students, but also their parents or other adult tourists - will have the chance to view about 10 unique tropical plants, some of which will emit a special fragrance to attract insect pollinators or start blooming at night; listen to several species of owls and frogs' callings; watch thousands of fireflies giving off flashes of light; and enjoy the Milky Way on a large lawn.

As a part of the training of the guides, who are all women from nearby Menglun township, Wang briefs them details in preparation for the tour, such as covering their flashlights with red cloth so that the light doesn't disturb the wildlife, not telling children scary stories during the tour, and bringing mosquito sprays in case visitors need them.

After the training, Wang and He He lead the guides to have a quick night hike in the garden. They stop at various sites and discuss how to separate different tour groups by guiding them along different routes.

"A guide can earn 100 yuan ($16) for a night hike," Wang says. "We have trained them every year and also encouraged them to learn more about the garden's fauna and flora so that they can provide better service to our visitors."

Because of their work, the night hike has become a popular program for visitors.