A national-level science and technology park for research into tropical agriculture and the planting of various flowers for sightseeing tourism opens in Zhanjiang on Jan 8.

The park, covering an area of 10,000 mu (667 hectares), is located at the Leizhou Peninsula about 30 kilometers west of urban Zhanjiang at the foot of the Luogang mountain range.

The core zone of the state-level agriculture science and technology park at Leizhou Peninsula, Zhanjiang, Guangdong province [Photo/zjphoto.yinsha.com]

Undertaken by the Zhanjiang government and Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Agricultural Reclamation, the park is divided into areas for exhibition, leisure, and displaying the achievements of modern agriculture.

The entrance, adorned with flowers, is currently the biggest flower sea in South China. It includes galsang flowers, lavenders, snapdragons, and maidenhair. According to officials, the park will serve as an ideal place for leisure activities such as shooting and camping.

A sea of windmills at the park proves popular with visitors. [Photo/zjphoto.yinsha.com]

At the northernmost part of the park stands the comprehensive demonstration base for innovative and precise agriculture technology. It will act as a farm for seeds exposed to outer space, a laboratory for improved crop species, and a farm using internet technology. It will also be home to R & D projects with South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Agricultural Products Processing Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, and other institutions.

Lucid ganoderma grows in the park's greenhouse. [Photo/zjphoto.yinsha.com]

The park also includes a sugarcane demonstration base which uses mechanized planting techniques. It is expected to boost the development of the sugarcane industry, which is the largest and most important pillar industry in Zhanjiang's agricultural reclamation areas.

The park will be equipped with more supporting facilities and an even greater level of management to hopefully become a national 5A (the highest level) tourist attraction as well as a pilot agricultural area, according to officials.

Tomato seeds that have been exposed to outer space bear fruit at a farm. [Photo/zjphoto.yinsha.com]