Yin Hong, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, announced the list of 20 "most beautiful forests in China", at the Eco Forum Global Annual Conference, Guiyang and Shennongjia Nature Reserve is included in the list.

The conference was held from July 19 to 21, and the initiative was launched last year by the State Forestry Administration and the magazine Forest and Humankind.

Forestry experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Forestry University and other institutions vote for the most beautiful forests in China.

 The experts evaluated 80 candidates, taking into consideration aesthetic, ecological and scientific value, and eventually chose 20 forests they believe worthy of the title.

Shennongjia is in the mid-latitude northern subtropical monsoon zone, which is rainy and a little cool, with three distinctive climate zones as the altitude rises.

It is the only well-preserved tropical forest system in the mid-altitude inland area of the northern hemisphere.

The forest coverage rate reaches 96 percent in the reserve area, and Shennongjia is also home to many precious plants such as dove trees, Chinese tulip trees, and cercidiphyllum japonicum.

Edited by Niva Whyman and Le Qin