Located at the former Anjiang Agricultural School in Hunan Province (now the Anjiang Campus of Huaihua Vocational and Technical College), the memorial park, a national key cultural relics protection unit and a national 3A tourist attraction, is the birthplace of China’s hybrid rice. The memorial park sits in Dasheping, Anjiang Town, Hongjiang County-level City, nestling at the foot of Xuefeng Mountains and by the bank of the Yuanshui River, within the mysterious Anjiang Basin, which is known as the Paradise of Species Mutation. The renowned rice breeding expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Yuan Longping, spent 37 years working and living at Anjiang Agricultural School, where he successfully developed hybrid rice, exerting a significant impact on the history of scientific and technological development in China and even the world.

The memorial park preserves more than 30 buildings and scientific research facilities from different periods since the establishment of Anjiang Agricultural School, along with the experimental field where Academician Yuan Longping developed hybrid rice. The park has witnessed the footsteps of Yuan Longping and his team in their research on hybrid rice and stands as the evidence of the historical development of rice farming civilization and is one of the ten must-visit places in Huaihua. Visitors may stroll along the winding paths between the fields, savor the rolling waves of the rice paddies, feel the touch of verdant green, and experience unique tranquility.  

Admission: 80 yuan/person, entry is currently free (visitors can explore Yuan Longping’s former residence, administrative building, dormitories for teachers and students, school motto plaque, hybrid rice greenhouse, library, fish pond, experimental fields, swimming pool and rare plants garden).

(Translated by Yang Hong)