The South China Botanical Garden (SCBG) is located in Long Dong, 15 km northeast of downtown Guangzhou. The complex topography, lower subtropical monsoon climate, and ample rainfall in the region make it an ideal place for plant introduction and acclimatization.

Since it was established in 1956, more than 6,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants have been introduced into the garden. Its thirty special gardens have a rich collection of tropical and subtropical species, economic plants, and rare and endangered species. And its Magnolia Garden and Ginger Garden are the largest in terms of area and species in the world. 
 
A large-scale reconstruction project officially kicked off in late 2002 and will be completed before the end of 2005, including three new ecological key gardens (a monsoon evergreen broad-leaf forest garden, a city ecological landscape garden and a large group of greenhouses), two centers (one conservation center for rare and endangered plant species, one center for scientific popularization) and a new arboretum building. In addition, 11 existing special collection gardens will be renovated. More than 10,000 species, especially those endangered and with high economic and scientific values, will be conserved in the garden.

It is a not only a comprehensive botanic garden of subtropical and tropical region, featuring scientific research, popular science and tourism, but also one of top ten tourist attractions in Guangzhou and the largest south Asia tropical botanic garden in China as well.