An aerial view of the Yixing National Forest Park. [Photo provided to gowuxi.com]

The Yixing National Forest Park in Yixing, a county-level city in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, officially opened to the public on Nov 26 after 10 months of trial operations.

The precursor to the national forest park was the Yixing Forest Farm, which was established in 1950, and in 1992 Yixing received approval from national authorities to transform the forest farm into a national forest park.

An aerial view of the Yixing National Forest Park. [Photo provided to gowuxi.com]

The national forest park houses the Jiangsu Longchi Nature Reserve and several forestry work areas. Its forest coverage rate is 97 percent with nearly 70,000 mu (4,667 hectares) of forest.

The forest park is also inhabited by numerous wild animals, including the national first-class protected animal white-necked long-tailed pheas, 12 national second-class protected animals, and 28 animals under provincial protection.

The Yixing National Forest Park. [Photo provided to gowuxi.com]

The park features around 890 species of plants, including rare and endangered species such as Parrotia subaequalis, the camphor tree, and wild groundnut.

The forest research and study center there offers a wide variety of courses on wildlife, handicrafts, forest fire protection, and field survival to students year-round.

Address: Center of Dingzhang Road, Yixing

Tel: +86-0510-87391886/18961551000