At 07:30, October 17, Beijing Time, the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. Astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, were accompanied by walnut branches, gastrodiaelata, water lilies, apricot seeds and other plant species from Yunnan. In a month, Shenzhou-11 will return home with its cargo of Yunnan flowers, wild mushrooms, Pu’er tea and dozens of other plant species which were in Tiangong II sent into the space on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

These plant species are taken into space in the hope that factors such as microgravity, the vacuum of space, weak magnetic force, cosmic rays and other special environmental factors will induce mutations and possibly cause new varieties to form. This is an effective way to speed up the cultivation of a fine new varieties of plants.

Since 1999, many varieties of Yunnan plants and seeds have been sent to space. These include varieties of rice, lettuce, potatoes, orchids, coffee beans, Pu’er tea, Betulaalnoides, Simao pines, Gastrodiaelata, Panax and Pinellia ternate. Among these, rice, Simao pines, Betulaalnoides and some other space-bred plant species have been planted in the province.