China to Build One-Tree Park

The construction of a one-tree park occupying 26.7 hectares of land is underway in central China's Hubei province.

The park is designed to protect the 600-year-old metasequoia in Moudao County, southwestern Hubei Province in central China, believed to be the ancestor of all metasequoia trees on the earth. The 35-meter-high tree with a diameter of 2.4 meters is only 30 meters away from State Highway No. 318 linking Shanghai and Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Metasequoia, known as "plant giant panda", was first discovered in China in 1941.

Chinese leaders Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping had presented metasequoia seeds as precious gifts to other countries.

Currently, Moudao County is pooling some 5.1 million yuan (about 614,500 U.S. dollars) of fund to build a shelter for the " super mother", the metasequoia king Park. Some 20 households will move out from the future park. A 400-meter-long fence will be built around the tree. The park is scheduled to be completed by September 2002.

In his speech by Deng Xiaoping during his inspection tour of south China in 1992 he had mentioned "that tree", which referred to the metasequoia giant. And local people have worshipped the tree as an auspicious species which they believe would bring them fortune and happiness.

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