Xixia county, in the backlands of the Funiu Mountain which is at the confluence of China's north and south climate intermediary belt, has humid air, abundant rainfall, and a well-preserved natural environment, so this is an appropriate place for the growth of many varieties of Chinese medicinal materials.

[Photo from chinadaily.com.cn]

Moreover, the Chinese medicinal materials here are superior in quality, prolific and widespread. Therefore, Xixia has been praised as the "natural depot of Chinese medicinal materials".

Magnolia stellata [Photo from nanyang.gov.cn]

It is recorded that there are 1,328 different species and 279 families of Chinese medicinal materials in Xixia, among which 1,125 species and 173 families of botanic materials take up 75 percent of the total 1500 types of Chinese medicinal materials documented in Compendium of Materia Medica. Among 564 key species in a national census, Xixia has 382 kinds, taking up 67.7 percent. The annual output of dogwood in Xixia has reached 1,300 tons, ranking first in China.