China is home to many well known but rare animals.
The giant panda lives in bamboo forests.
The Chinese white dolphin, also known as the Yangtze River dolphin is one of just a few species of fresh water dolphins.
China's national flower is the Plum Blossom.
A wide variety of animals and plants are unique to China or originated there. And many are endangered.
(Wikipedia image from free media repository)
Golden snub-nosed monkey
This monkey is sometimes called the Sichuan golden hair monkey or the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey. The monkeys live in temperate forests in mountainous areas where they find and eat young leaves, fruits or seeds, buds, herbs, bark, and flowers.
They live in small groups of 5 or 10, but can sometimes be in groups with as many as 600. A group has one male and many females and their young. Other males usually live alone.
Adult males have large bodies covered with very long, golden hairs on their backs. When their mouths are open, they show long canines (teeth). Females are about half the size of the males.
After mating with a male, the female gives birth to one baby. It is her responsibility to care for her baby but the whole group shares the job of protecting the young monkeys.
These animals are endangered because of habitat loss. Some nature reserves have been set up to protect the species from extinction.
This freshwater dolphin known as the Yangtze river-dolphin is probably extinct. Read the kidcyber dolphin page
After being almost extinct in China, the population has increased to about 300 after becoming a protected species. Read about elephants on kidcyber
Read the kidcyber page about clouded leopards
Some plants of China
Plum Blossom: The National Flower of China (From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository)
Plum Blossom: China's national flower
The blossom of the plum tree became the National Flower of the Republic of China in 1964. It was chosen because it is a strong, hardy plant that flowers in spring, even if harsh, snowy weather continues after winter. This represents the strength of the Chinese people. Plum trees usually grow for a long time, and ancient trees are found throughout China. One tree in central China is said to be 1,600 years old.
photo by Fanghong (From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository)
Peonies
The peony is a flowering plant native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. There are perhaps 40 species. They are strong shrubs that can survive cold winters and hot summers. They grow to about about one metre and flower in late spring and early summer. The flowers are large and often have a strong, beautiful, rose-like perfume. Every year in spring thousands of Chinese people go to the small city of Luoyang to celebrate the Peony Festival.
Pine Trees
An old Chinese print shows a red-crested crane on a pine tree (From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository)
The Armand pine or Chinese white pine, is a species of pine that is native to China. It grows in mountain areas and can reach 35 metres in height. On Huangshan Mountain a pine tree, called the Welcome Pine, is said to be 1500 years old. Pine trees were often a feature in traditional Chinese paintings.
Bamboo
Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. They have hollow and round stems that grow tall and strong.
Some bamboos species are the fastest-growing plants in the world.
Bamboos are used for building materials, and as a food.
The soft shoots and stems of the bamboo are the main food for the Giant Panda.
It’s a good idea to get information from more than one source!
Watch a video of the endangered snub-nosed golden monkeys in a protected nature reserve in China where their numbers have increased:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LOns2dyuIY
Read more about animals native to China.
https://www.cbc.ca/kids/olympics/beijing2022/blog/6-amazing-animals-native-to-china
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/animals-native-to-china.html