I am Altaf Ullah, member of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation – Pakistan. I was excited to hear about my nomination as a Trainee for International Training Workshop Botanical Garden Development and Management at Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai – China in 2018. Attending this workshop was my first ever international experience and I am happy that I was part of that workshop, as this was a wonderful learning opportunity for me. On my first day at Chenshan Botanical Garden, I was surprised to see with how much dedication Chinese have developed this Garden. I found almost all the facilities and components a Botanical Garden should have. The herbarium was maintained in a very professional and standard manner where I found new species of plants.

The Training lasted for about 20 days and every day brought a new learning opportunity to me. There were different topics and modules of the Training and each day a well-qualified instructor gave us valuable lectures and field trips to different parts of the Botanical Garden. Not only the lectures but the field visits provided me an excellent learning platforms in my field of interest. The Culture day was organized where all the participants presented their own culture with their local music, products and dresses.

Besides all these, the organizers arranged field trips to other different botanical gardens, museums and parks. Wherever I visited, I found something new and exciting that impressed me a lot and provided me a wonderful learning opportunity. The Bonsai Botanical Garden was an amazing experience for me where I observed how they have kept Bonsai plants with great care.

Another great experience was the visit to Tianmu Mountains. There, I along with my organizers and other fellow trainees, climbed the mountain and collected plants specimen and took pictures. The special thing about Tianmu Mountains visit was that almost all the mountains were fully covered with different species of plants and trees and, I hardly noticed a single part of mountain which was deserted.

During my visits to urban parts of Shanghai, I was astonished to see that the Chinese worked hard to make their cities clean and green. Even roads with tunnels are covered by trees on both sides, which was very impressive. The Training was organized in a proper manner and the organizers especially, Shubo and Amanda were very helpful and friendly to all of us. They guided us on every part of the training. On my last day of training, the Science and Technology Director of Chenshan Botanical Garden and other staff members distributed certificates to the trainees.

I would like to conclude by stating that the training was very impressive and I learned a lot during my 20 days stay in Shanghai. I would be glad if I found another opportunity to attend such workshop in China, and I recommend this training to others as well. I would like to say thanks to my Training Organizers, Ministry of Science and Technology and the Chinese people for their hospitality. Long Live Pak-China friendship.