The Wuhan Botanical Garden, on the eastern shore of East Lake, is one of the three main botanical research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and holds the country's most important collection of native trees and aquatic plants. It covers 70 hectares and is laid out in themed gardens — a magnolia garden, a kiwifruit garden (China is the original home of the kiwifruit), an aquatic-plant pond, a bamboo grove.
The garden is a working scientific institution but is open to the public. It is at its best in late spring and early summer, when the magnolias and lotus blossoms are out. Allow at least half a day; the garden is quieter than other East Lake attractions and is a pleasant escape from the city.