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China is one of the countries with the greatest diversity of
wildlife in the world. There are more than 6,266 species of
vertebrates, 10 percent of the world's total. Among them 2,404 are
terrestrials and 3,862 fishes. There are more than 100 wild animal
species unique to China including such well-known rare animals as
the giant panda, golden-haired monkey, South China tiger,
brown-eared pheasant, red-crowned crane, red ibis, white-flag
dolphin and Chinese alligator. The black-and-white giant panda
weighs on average 135 kg and lives on tender bamboo leaves and
bamboo shoots. Because it is extremely rare - just over 1,500 are
left at present - it has become the symbol of the world's protected
wild animals. The red-crowned crane, that could be as tall as 1.2
m, is covered with white feathers, with a distinctive patch of
exposed red skin crowning its head and is regarded as a symbol of
longevity in East Asia. The white-flag dolphin is one of only two
species of freshwater whales in the world. In 1980, a male
white-flag dolphin was caught for the first time in the Yangtze
River, which aroused great interest among dolphin researchers
worldwide.
China is also one of the countries with the most abundant plant
life in the world. There are more than 32,000 species of higher
plants, and almost all the major plants that grow in the northern
hemisphere's frigid, temperate and tropical zones are represented
in China. In addition, there are more than 7,000 species of woody
plants, including 2,800-odd tree species. The metasequoia, Chinese
cypress, Cathay silver fir, China fir, golden larch, Taiwan fir,
Fujian cypress, dove-tree, eucommia and camplotheca acuminata are
found only in China. The metasequoia, a tall species of arbor, is
considered to be one of the oldest and rarest plants in the world.
The golden larch, one of only five species of rare garden trees in
the world, grows in the mountainous areas in the Yangtze River
valley. Its coin-shaped leaves on short branches are green in
spring and summer, turning yellow in autumn. China is home to more
than 2,000 species of edible plants and over 3,000 species of
medicinal plants. Ginseng from the Changbai Mountains, safflowers
from Tibet, Chinese wolfberry from Ningxia and notoginseng from
Yunnan and Guizhou are particularly well-known Chinese herbal
medicines. China has a wide variety of flowering plants; the peony,
a flower indigenous to China and known as the "king of flowers," is
characterized by large blossoms, multiple petals and bright colors,
and is treasured as one of the country's national
flowers.?