[Photo provided to conghua.gov.cn]

A licensing ceremony of the International Camellia Garden of Excellence was held in Apoliu Camellia Valley, Liangkou town, Conghua district, Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong province on March 6.

In April 2020, the valley was awarded the title of International Camellia Garden of Excellence, the first garden in the city to win that honor.

Apoliu Camellia Village is one of top 10 featured towns in Conghua district. Since its construction in 2017, it has been building "One River and 11 Gardens", including a Yunanshan camellia garden, a Hongshan camellia garden, and a Xianghua camellia garden.

The town will be built into a key resort of the northern tourist area of Guangzhou and a rural tourism destination in north Guangdong province and the Pearl River Delta Region.

It has planted more than 40,000 famous and precious camellias of 600 varieties, creating a distinguished flower industry integrated with sightseeing and research.

After admiring the camellias, visitors to the village's gardens should look skywards, as Apoliu is also a rare place for star viewing. 

In 2019, the ancient camellia conservation and cultivation conference of the International Camellia Society (ICS) was held in valley. It formulated the world's first ancient camellia tree standard, issued the first certificates for ancient camellia trees and constructed the first application park of a camellia variety database in the world.

Established on April 1, 1962, the ICS is the most influential international non-governmental organization and authority promoting the knowledge, cultivation and development of Camellias through various initiatives. It aims to provide a platform to researchers, planters, business people and enthusiasts for their professional consultation, services and financial support.

The International Camellia Garden of Excellence title issued by the ICS is the top honor in the world camellia industry. So far, only about 40 gardens around the world have won the honor.