General Xu Caihou, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), paid an inspection tour to XTBG on September 8.

  During the course of showing the vice chairman and his companions around the Garden, XTBG deputy director Li Hongwei briefly reported the historical evolution and development prospect, especially focusing on the three major tasks of scientific research, species preservation and public education. Vice chairman Xu Caihou gave a positive recognition of the achievements made by XTBG and looked forward to better development of the Garden in the future.

   After visiting the elite living collections, vice chairman Xu planted a memorial tree, bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa) under which Sakyamuni sat meditating and attained the state of enlightenment.

   Chengdu Military Region's Political Commissar Zhang Haiyang and Xishuangbanna CPC Secretary Jiang Pusheng accompanied the inspection tour.