Graduate student representative delivers speech

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning! I am Fang Lina, a graduate student at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden(XTBG). It's my great honor to give XTBG our best wishes on behalf of all graduate students.

As graduate students just arrived at XTBG, we lost the opportunity to witness the arduous struggle to build the garden or the earth-shaking changes XTBG experienced in the past half century. However we are impressed by the industrious and optimistic people here and the flourishing Gourd Island. Fifty-year development of scientific research, gardening and public education makes XTBG a world-famous "Noah's ark for tropical plants", which also sets a solid foundation for its goal: a world-class botanical garden. Many people have devoted their lifetime to XTBG. We hereby offer our sincere appreciation to them all.

The visit to "Memorial of Cai Xitao" impressed me greatly. The youths with great interest in tropical plants developed a new world on Gourd Island with their hard work and wisdom. I am filled with deep esteem and very proud to be a graduate student at XTBG. Furthermore I realize my responsibility. Senior's industrious endeavor had created beautiful natural environment and good condition of scientific research for us. We find ourselves very lucky to pursue our mastership in the botanical garden.

2007 Graduates

XTBG has been enrolling graduate students since 1986. More than 400 graduate students have been studying here. After graduation, they devote themselves to scientific researches, study abroad or work as backbone in their careers. In order to improve the students' abilities in the scientific research area and promote the international exchange and cooperation, XTBG sets up special fund to subsidize the students' attendance to international conferences. Every year the garden also sends 2-3 outstanding students studying abroad in universities or institutes that cooperate with the garden.

The graduate students play important roles in scientific research at XTBG. We participate and complete many research projects. And more and more papers have been published on journals each year. Encouraging achievements come out during this period. For example, Dr. Li Qingjun published a paper on Nature when he studied for his PhD at the garden.

XTBG pay much attention to graduate students' daily life, working and research conditions. The graduate students are also involved in the policy making process of the garden. Such action makes the garden home for the students.

Apart from scientific research, diverse activities enrich our daily life. Sports meeting, basketball match, volleyball, badminton and table tennis, dance training, movie show, barbecue, hiking and so on. All activities give us good opportunities to keep fit and relaxed. English Corner, Social Hour and some academic lectures provide a good stage where we can communicate freely. We also act as tour guides during Tourist Golden Weeks, which makes us love the botanical garden much more.

Extra-curriculum activities

Graduate students' basketball team

Five decades have passed. Inspired by the spirit "Complete devotion to science" of Mr. Cai Xitao, XTBG has promoted the development of graduate student training, overcoming numbers of difficulties such as remote location and poor traffic. In 2009, the establishment of new scientific research center in the garden will improve the research level of the botanical garden and provide better research conditions for graduate students. We believe that the graduate students will score more achievements at the time when XTBG fulfills its goal of "a world-class botanical garden".

In the end, I would like to say "Happy Birthday to Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden" on behalf of all graduate students.

Thank you!