Of the more than 100 institutions under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) in Southwest China's Yunnan province is the only one not within or close to a major city.

But this has not impeded efforts by the nation's largest botanical garden to become "a regional conservation and research leader", says XTBG director Dr Chen Jin.

"Actually, being far from any city and close to nature can be considered one of our advantages, as it nurtures an atmosphere conducive to research," he says. "Our role model is the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution (STRI) in Panama."

He explains that the STRI has grown into one of the leading research institutions of the world and is located on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal Zone, "far from any major city like us".

Though it has only 38 resident scientists, its facilities provide a unique opportunity for long-term ecological studies in the tropics, which are used extensively by some 900 visiting scientists from academic and research institutions around the world every year.

"Compared to it, we still have a long way to go," says Chen.

At present, it has 8 full-time foreign research fellows, including two professors and leaders of the institution's 20 research teams, and more than 10 post-doctoral researchers and international students. Twenty villas are under construction, Chen says, which "will provide better living environment for our resident foreign professors".