China unveiled its first National Botanical Garden in Beijing on Monday and an eye-catching logo to represent the new endeavor caught a lot of attention. 

Designed by artist Han Meilin, UNESCO's Artist for Peace in 2015 and most known for his creation of the Fuwa dolls for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the logo features two unique and rare plants – ginkgo and metasequoia. The logo highlights the importance of the balance and harmony of natural ecology and the construction of ecological civilization. 

Ginkgo and metasequoia are first-level protected plants inscribed on the List of Key Protected Plants of China. They are relict plants of the third and fourth glacial periods, and also known as the oldest extant tree species in the world and "living fossils" of the plant kingdom. China National Botanical Garden has a ginkgo conservation area in its northern section, where many ancient ginkgo trees, some of which more than 1,000 years old, can be seen.

Metasequoia trees were first discovered by Chinese botanists in Hubei Province in 1941 and were introduced to Beijing in the early 1970s. The garden has the largest metasequoia conservation forest in northern China. 

With a total planned area of about 600 hectares, China National Botanical Garden is set to help strengthen the ex-situ conservation of endangered plant species. Based on existing resources from the Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Botanical Garden, China National Botanical Garden plans to establish cooperative relationships with botanical gardens and institutions in hundreds of countries.

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China National Botanical Garden inauguration ceremony held in Beijing

(Photos via CFP)

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