Description
Zhu Kaifu lives in Southern China, with his wife, who is pregnant with a girl. He made a great fortune out of his business. His life will change the day he decides to allocate all of his fortune to protect one rare and endangered species of tree: magnolia, which is at risk of extinction in China. Very soon his desire becomes a real passion and will materialise through the creation of a botanic garden entirely dedicated to this marvellous tree. The good environment for growing magnolias is far from his hometown. Thus, he has to part from his family to make this dream come true. He buys a waste land and spends all of his time with the trees, going back home only 2 or 3 days every three months, giving up the breeding of his only child.
During the years, his garden grows and Mr Zhu manages to create a botanic sanctuary known by his pairs. There he grows more than a hundred species and he constantly has to widen his “garden”, which will soon become a real botanic garden. He looses all his money and business gets worse when some of his trees are stolen and a typhoon rips through his garden, destroying years of work. However, his passion is so strong that he doesn’t give up and rents more and more land to make his “paradise” bigger. After many years, important purchase orders make him earn some money.
Thanks to some experts’ help, Mr Zhu spreads the magnolia culture and makes people understand the importance of protecting magnolias. Finally he has some satisfactions: in 2011, the 133 hectares covered by 213 species are named “Divine Land Magnolia Garden” and it’s officially recognized as Natural Reservation. Today it’s the biggest in the world. He’s employed as visiting professor by the South China Agricultural University and, divine surprise, the University dedicates him a new species of magnolia named “Magnolia Kaifu”.
