‘Black Myth: Wukong’ has become a huge hit, with many magical plants appearing in the game as a way to cure and replenish health. Among them, there is a plant : Gentianacea.

Gentianaceae plants, mostly herbaceous but also woody. According to medical records, gentian is named after its leaves that resemble those of a dragon’s sunflower and its bitter leaves that resemble gall. There are about 1500 species of Gentianaceae plants in the world, with over 300 species in China, most of which are distributed in high and subalpine regions. In the Hengduan Mountains of northwest Yunnan, forests, grasslands, and rocky beaches with an altitude of over 3000 meters are the most commonly grown.Among them, the famous gentian plants include the Gentiana Wilsonii C. Marquand, Gentiana Hexaphylla Maxim.Ex Kusnez, Gentiana Rubicunda, Gentiana Triflora Pall.,and Gentiana Manshurica Kitag. Gentiana grows in sunny hillside grasslands or shrubs, and most species are distributed in high-altitude areas, especially in southwestern mountainous regions.

As one of the “Three Beautiful Flowers and Plants of the High Mountains”, Gentiana is known for its bright and eye-catching colors, mostly blue and blue purple, with a few varieties of deep red, pink, and white. In Wukong’s equipment box, the description of the function of gentian is: it tastes bitter like gallbladder, is suitable for supplementing insufficient gallbladder qi, and can be used to refine elixirs.

Roughly studying the appearance and color of various types of Gentiana, as well as their role as herbs, I feel that Gentiana has been chosen by Wukong for two reasons. Firstly, it has the function of removing blood stasis and is used for injuries caused by falls. For Wukong, who has been constantly fighting, it is no doubt that he will immediately pick it up.The second aspect is its beautiful appearance. The color and pattern of Gentiana are very unique. Blue is as pure as the color of the sky, with variations of purple, white, and red, more like natural works of art created by nature. For well-known reasons, Wukong has always loved beauty since Journey to the West. Otherwise, how could he let a beautiful little flower hat trick him and personally put a golden hoop on himself?

Its vitality is very strong, and wherever there are mountains and forests, its shadow remains. In the extremely harsh plateau environment, it always try its best to bloom.This is very similar to Wukong, who became more and more brave as he defeated the Buddha in battle.

In addition, the flower language of Gentiana is to enjoy seeing you in sadness. Gentiana flowers are blue, “Grey is something I don’t want to say, blue is melancholy”. Some people feel sad because of blue, while others say it’s because of hardship. I don’t quite think so. The experience of hardship and pleasure is actually very personal. Who can distinguish between honey and arsenic?

But the other day, a friend mentioned the ending of the Black Myth of Wukong, saying: The background of every story is very sad. So what makes people sad? It’s the melancholic background of the story. When we go to see the Black Myth of Wukong with the passion of reading the biography of Wukong, we cannot see the super powerful and unyielding spirit that makes us admire him so much. Once upon a time, the Monkey who traveled westward never died in his heart. He knew it couldn’t be changed and still wanted to change it. Even if he died, he wouldn’t succumb to fate, which amazed us throughout our youth. However, the one week ending of the Black Myth, with four fold destiny, endless reincarnation, and a predetermined fate, makes it difficult for people to calm down. The acceptance of fate by the destined person is ultimately disappointing.

The latest news is that the second and third week endings are significantly different from the hidden ending, removing the sadness of appointment and compliance. Having the power to break free from constraints and achieve personal growth and self transcendence. Realizing the essence of the world and self-worth, achieving inner peace and tranquility. Choosing to refuse to wear the golden hoop and challenge the Heavenly Court again is full of resilience and resistance to fate. If that’s true, please  give the game designer a raise.

Black Myth: Wukong : One of the hottest domestic action role-playing games recently. Produced by Game Science Company and published by Zhejiang Publishing Group Digital Media Co., Ltd. It was officially released on August 20th this year and logged into Steam (the single player game with the highest number of online users on the release day).

The game is adapted from the famous Chinese mythological novel “Journey to the West”. In the game, players play the role of “destined men” and embark on a dangerous and surprising journey to the west in order to explore the truth of past legends.

The exquisite graphics, profound plot, and unique gameplay of “Black Myth: Wukong” have ignited the enthusiasm of countless players and game enthusiasts at home and abroad, influencing beyond the scope of the game and triggering the “Black Myth” effect in various industries. Through the game, novel cultural experiences are created, allowing foreign players to enter Eastern mythology, and cultural output ignites the world, refreshing and driving global attention and pursuit of Chinese traditional culture, traditional architecture, domestic tourism, ethnic music, and other aspects.

Saussurea medusa , also known as Jellyfish Saussurea involucrata , Xia Gu Bei, is a perennial and repeatedly fruiting herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae family of the angiosperms phylum. It is mainly distributed in Sichuan and Tibet, northwest Yunnan, Gansu, Qinghai and other areas. It often grows on rocky slopes, high mountain rocky beaches, and ice and snow gravel belts at an altitude of 4500-5600 meters. Its growth period is from May to August every year, and it takes 4-5 years for it to mature.

The Saussurea medusa, who grows tenaciously on the top of high mountains, is a true female warrior in the plateau plant kingdom. Its Latin name is Saussurea medusa. Among them, Medusa, also known as Medusa in ancient Greek mythology, vividly expresses its survival resilience, and descrobes its apperance.

Medusa, a mortal, young and pure, with long hair and dazzling beauty, had a very unfortunate life experience. She was bullied by the sea god, envied by Athena, turned into a monster, and had her head chopped off. Despite this, her barbaric appearance and deadly gaze still made her a woman full of vitality. In the words of feminists, the basilisk is synonymous with powerful women, “she can become the map for us to cross fear, cross the abyss of anger, and enter us as the source of female power.”

What does the spirit of women look like? It is slow, gentle, not glaring, not penetrating. Its exterior is gentle and gentle, while its interior is tough. It can withstand the scorching heat, cold, wind and rain, the scorching sun, and the attacks of ice and snow. It can endure loneliness and solitude. Its self-awareness is clear and profound, and it has its own unique expression, direct and sharp, passionate and intense. It blooms from the cracks in the stone, and once it can withstand eternity.

Among all the plateau plants, the Saussurea gossipiphora D. Don family can be said to be at the top of the “altitude contempt chain”. According to relevant information, the Saussurea gnaphalodes, located at an altitude of 6300 meters, has obtained the Guinness World Record for the highest altitude at which higher plants grow. The habitat of Saussurea medusa is not much better, the environment is very harsh.

NO1 harsh environment: The high-altitude ice edge zone is an extremely harsh place in the high-altitude ecosystem. Above the high-altitude ice edge zone is the permanent snow cover zone, where plants cannot survive. Occasionally, birds and animals pass by, but they cannot stay for a long time.

NO2 harsh environment: Gravel slopes and flowing rocky beaches on the plateau are infiltrated by melted ice and snow water. The climate here is cold, with a combination of ice and snow, low pressure, strong radiation, strong ultraviolet radiation, and strong winds and heavy rain. The altitude of alpine screes is basically over 4500 meters, and the entire slope is made of gravel, which constantly changes its position. In alpine screes , it is very difficult for plants to survive. Firstly, both water and the nutrients required for plant growth are insufficient. Secondly, although there is often intense sunlight during the daytime in summer, photosynthesis can be carried out. However, when there is no sunlight, the high-altitude slopes become very cold, and the energy produced by plant photosynthesis is only a little bit, which will be completely consumed for warmth. But Saussurea medusa can grow tenaciously under such conditions, becoming a typical alpine plant highly adapted to extreme environments.

Saussurea medusa are clearly two different animals, why are they used on the same plant? When you haven’t seen it before, you may be puzzled, but as soon as you see it, just from its appearance, the above questions will be easily solved. This is a high-altitude plant that can evoke the words “Mengmeng Da” at a glance. Its overall color appears white, resembling a jellyfish when not in bloom, with densely clustered hemispherical inflorescences appearing at the stem tips. The structure that surrounds the inflorescence like leaves and looks like leaves on the outside is its bract; The stems and leaves are densely covered with white cotton hairs, similar in color to the snow rabbit’s fur. When they bloom, they resemble a standing long haired rabbit. The entire inflorescence is purple black and blooms in the middle of the top of the bracts, surrounded by densely covered cotton bracts. There are many white hairs, like a rabbit shrinking into a ball.

But its cute and well behaved appearance is not meant to be cute, but to adapt to the extreme high-altitude environment described earlier: its leaves and flowers are covered in rabbit like fur, known as the “cotton coat structure” in botany, which can fill the internal space of plants with air and cushion the damage caused by temperature changes. Like human cotton jackets and down jackets, it is mainly used for warmth. In addition to keeping warm, cotton wool also has a purpose of preventing rainwater from washing away pollen and reducing water evaporation. ManySaussurea medusa have a purple red overall appearance on their plants, which is related to their cotton coat structure reflecting short wavelength strong radiation from the plateau. Of course, there are also Saussurea medusa that are not purple in color and have a relatively green appearance, which is related to the different environments on the high-altitude rocky beach. All these special forms and structures are meant to be strong enough to survive in harsh environments.

Saussurea medusa is a miracle and treasure in nature. It has its own toxicity and can be used as medicine for treating rheumatoid arthritis, mountain discomfort, and menstrual disorders. It is difficult for it to bloom and bear fruit naturally throughout its life, and it is already not easy to fulfill its mission. Once, its natural enemies were only harsh natural conditions, but now it has an additional ‘enemy’, which is humans. Although the plateau environment is harsh, it also has an advantage: less pollution. This plant has excellent ability to withstand extreme cold and wind and frost, but it cannot withstand pollution. In recent years, the number of people traveling and exploring on the plateau has increased, and some uncivilized behaviors have polluted the living environment of plateau organisms, causing irreversible damage to the biodiversity of the plateau. In addition, due to the exaggerated popularity and influence of Saussurea involucrata, which belongs to the Subgenus Amphilaena Lipsch. family, in medicinal herbs, Saussurea medusa similar to Saussurea involucrata are harvested in large quantities and sold in the market as snow lotus. This has put the Saussurea medusa, which is already scarce due to its slow growth rate and difficulty in reproduction, in danger of extinction. In September 2021, the “List of Key Protected Wild Plants in China” listed the Saussurea medusa as a second-class protected plant in the country. Random harvesting is illegal. I hope that when traveling to high-altitude areas, everyone should try not to damage their living environment and not pick them randomly, in order to protect this endangered plant.

Due to the harsh environment, Saussurea medusa grow and bloom slowly. From seed to seed, they undergo long-term dormancy and struggle to survive in crevices of rocks. It takes at least ten years to absorb as much nutrients as possible in order to have a chance to bloom and bear fruit. That’s why many Saussurea medusa only bloom once in their lives, and seeing them bloom often means saying goodbye to them.

Previously, we introduced the Meconopsis Racemosa.Today, we will specifically talk about the variety of Meconopsis Racemosa that makes people fall for it at first glance – Meconopsis Jiajinsis.

Meconopsis Jiajinsis, also known as Dark Meconopsis balangensis , is a plant of the Papaveraceae family and the genus Meconopsis. Its flowering period is from July to August, and it grows on grassy slopes, high mountain gravel slopes, and flowing stone beaches at an altitude of 3900-4100 meters. It is distributed in western Sichuan (Xiaojin Jiajin Mountain Pass).

It and Meconopsis balangensis are both a type of Meconopsis Racemosa. In 2000, our founder Mr. Zeng Gang was the first to discover this Meconopsis Racemosa in Jiajin Mountain; In 2011, the late expert and plant photographer of the genus Meconopsis, Mr. Yoshida, proposed a name to the World Council for Plant Sciences and classified it together with the Meconopsis found in Mountain Balang as Meconopsis Balangensis.

In recent years, some taxonomists have separated it based on its characteristic of being only visible in Jiajin Mountain in western Sichuan, and pronounced it as Meconopsis Jiajinsis.

Although most Meconopsis flowers come in various shades of pink, blue, and blue purple, there are also a small portion that are white, yellow, and red. The most unique feature of Meconopsis Jiajinsis, apart from being found only in Jiajin Mountain so far, is its color. After being separately named, the full name of Meconopsis Jiajinsis is Meconopsis balangensis var Atrata, as can be clearly seen from its meaning, is a dark variant of the Meconopsis Balangensis. Its petals have a unique metallic luster, with deep wine red and enchanting black purple flowers. The noble and elegant colors of the petals have a strong contrast of golden stamens, making it particularly unique. Under certain ambient lighting conditions, some may exhibit a charming gradient from dark purple to burgundy, which is both alluring and romantic. Looking against the light, the light refracted from where the sunlight falls gradually lightens the layers of dark colors, making the flowers light and translucent.

The flower color of Meconopsis Jiajinsis combines the passion of red, the mystery of purple, and the repression of black, making it the most bizarre and eerie alphine flower I have ever seen. Against the backdrop of rugged rocks, the feeling of easily sinking is particularly strong, making people feel that this is neither a mortal flower nor a celestial object, which inevitably reminds them of a story about ghost flowers in the Ji Shen Lu. Its flowers are red, fragrant, lovely, and heavy, with a spiritual temperament comparable to that of a ghost flower. It is not surprising that it comes from the fate of gods and demons, and cannot escape at a glance.

The story of ghost flowers in Ji Shen Lu is very meaningful and long. It’s very interesting to share it with you after the Zhongyuan Festival Festival just past:

It is said that Jia Zhang, a friend of the monk Minchu from the Fayun Temple in Guangling, passed away. Minchu pray for blessings for him to recite scriptures for several months, and one day he unexpectedly met Jia Zhang in a market in the city. Chu asked, “Since you have already passed away, Why do you still stay here?” Zhang replied, “However, I have not given up on a small crime. I am now dead as a remnant of Yangzhou’s plunder.” Then he pointed some men and women passing by said, “They are all just like me.” So Min Chu and Jia Zhang went south together and met a woman selling flowers. Zhang said, “The flowers of this woman were also bought by ghosts, and the flowers were also used by ghosts. There is no use for them in the world.” Zhang then spent a few dollars to buy them and gave them to Chu, saying, “Anyone who smiles at this flower is a ghost.” Its red and fragrant flowers are lovely and heavy. Passersby have a smile when they see flowers. Minchu returned to the temple and felt that he was traveling with ghosts, and it was not good to bring ghost flowers into the temple. He decided to throw the flowers into the water. After returning home, he fell seriously ill and it took him a long time to recover. When everyone asked him what was wrong, he told everyone about his experience. The monks went to see the flowers he had thrown away, but it turned out to be a dead hand.

Special Notes

About Meconopsis: The popularity of Meconopsis in the West began as early as the 19th century. According to the latest data from the Plant Photo Bank of China (PPBC) in 2023, there are 94 species of Meconopsis plants, of which about 80% are located in China, distributed in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and Hengduan Mountains, and growing at high altitudes of 3000-5000 meters. Anyone who has seen Meconopsis will be attracted by its beautiful appearance. The genus Megonopsis, established by Louis G Alexandre Viguier in 1814, consists of two Greek words: Mekong poppy and Opsis image, which is why it is known as the Himalayan blue poppy in Western countries.

Yoshida Kosuke:The scientific discoverer of Meconopsis balangensis, Yoshida Kosuke, passed away due to illness in 2021 at the age of 72. He spent a lot of his life wandering around the western Sichuan Plateau, scientifically discovering and naming 9 species of Meconopsis, and publishing multiple plant atlases on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau.

Plant Photo Bank of China:a full-time plant picture management organization established in the Herbarium of Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences in March 2008 under the support of the National Science and Technology Platform Project. The system collects, organizes, and stores plant photos, digital image source files, plant plates, and other original files and copies of plant related images for long-term preservation, providing image support for scientific research, popular science, and book publishing. Becoming an important platform for the public to obtain information on Chinese plant images.

When you see the Meconopsis punicea Maxim on a hillside grassland at an altitude of 2800-4300 meters, you will initially be attracted by its fiery red among the lush greenery. At first sight of the Meconopsis punicea Maxim , under the blue sky, from a distance, it dances in the wind like a Tibetan prayer flag. The texture of silk makes it agile and graceful, and you will feel its freedom and unrestrained.

It is easy to associate it with a person named Frida Kahlo, a treasure of Mexican art and one of the most outstanding female artists of the 20th century.

Her long thick eyebrows and clusters of gorgeous flowers on her head give people a slightly rough texture in the first sense, but she is also attracted by the uncontrollable passion of life.

(Frida Kahlo 1907-1954)

Frida’s life was a legendary one, as she struggled with illness and used a single paintbrush to create vivid and brilliant depictions of shattered pieces. She created approximately 152 paintings in total, with about one-third of them being self portraits. Her husband, renowned muralist Diego Rivera, commented, “Her works are satirical yet gentle, as hard as steel, as free as butterfly wings, as moving as smiles, and as tragic as the hardships of life.

(‘I’m not sick, I’m broken, but as long as I can draw, I’m happy.’)

Frida has a passage about love that I particularly like. Here is an excerpt:

I am a child wandering in the world of colors, seeking help from myself and seeking my own assistance. Passion is a bridge that takes you from pain to change, and the most powerful art is to turn pain into a talisman of healing. I don’t want you to think like me, I just want you to think. Don’t build a wall around pain, it will devour you from within. Ultimately, we can endure much more than we imagine. I believe I can gradually solve my problems and survive. I have struggled and suffered for a long time, and I deserve something complete, strong, and indestructible. Pain, happiness, and death are just processes of existence, and the revolutionary struggle in this process is a gateway to wisdom. You deserve the best, the best, because you are one of the few honest people in this terrible world, and that is the only thing that truly matters. We like to protect ourselves by getting sick, to prevent us from being defeated by truth, ignorance, and fear. We are afraid to know that we are just a carrier, guided to build and destroy life. Nothing is absolute, everything is changing, everything is moving, everything is spinning, everything is flying by.

Having learned more, you can no longer just focus on the visual aspect. As you approach, you will find that the Meconopsis puniceais Maxim actually not Frida. It is so fiery red, yet it is a true hanging angel.Its flower stem is drawn out from the lotus root cluster, and its corolla is like a small umbrella. All the petals do not open wide to the sky, hanging down one by one, protecting the stamen and appearing both beautiful and shy.

Occasionally, there are one or two pieces, slightly stretched out, as if extending their little claws to tease something, as if saying, ‘Look, I’m actually a mischievous little beauty too.’. Walking on the plateau, you will see many flowers with dazzling colors and bold forms, conveying a message anytime and anywhere: Look at me, look at me, look at how beautiful I am. Red flowers and green velvet are so different, beautiful and introverted, instantly adding a touch of immortal temperament. The so-called true beauty, beauty is not self aware, beauty is even greater.

(Flowers  bloom in the sky at an altitude of 3500 meters )

Meconopsis punicea Maxim is an endangered and rare plant in Papaveraceae. It is a national second-class protected wild plant, distributed in northwest Sichuan, northeast Tibet, southeast Qinghai and southwest Gansu.

(Flowing water and flowers at an altitude of 3900 meters)

The Curtis Journal of Botany lists three Westerners who had contact with the Meconopsis punicea Maxim before 1907. The first one was the Russian explorer Pu’er Rwaki who discovered the Artemisia selengensis in northern Xizang in 1884, and the other one was the Russian naturalist Potanin, who discovered the Artemisia selengensis in northern Sichuan in 1885. The third one, Wilson, discovered the red flowered green velvet artemisia and the whole leaved green velvet artemisia in Songpan, Sichuan province in 1903, and collected seeds to bring back to Kew Garden. In 1905, Kew Garden successfully raised seedlings, so Wilson was the one who truly introduced the Meconopsis punicea Maxim to the West.

Botanically speaking, the drooping and inverted flower posture of Meconopsis punicea Maxim is very suitable in the harsh and harsh environment of the plateau. It can effectively protect the flower buds and pollen from natural external forces, and also provide a sheltered harbor for the small insects that pollinate it. The little beauty’s concern for life far exceeds her concern for beauty. She is a true pragmatist.

(at an altitude of 4300 meters)

This story was told by the local people when I went to Tibet District of Sichuan Province. It was said that a living Buddha who was very respected by the peopole died. People, animals, plants and all living beings on the grassland were sad bacause of his death. The water and plants were so abudant that cattle and sheep neither ate grass or drank water nor jumped. All kinds of flowers were sadly withered one by one. But at this time, a yellow flower was extremely bold and gorgeous, opening its petals and blooming.

Everyone thinks, hey, this flower is just too careless, it’s like a silly big floer, so they gave it a name: Foolish Flower.

This flower, its scientific name is: Meconopsis Integrifolia . Meconopsis Integrifolia is an annual or perennial herb, which is mainly distributed in southwest Gansu, east to south Qinghai, east Tibet, northwest and northeast Yunan in China. In Sichuan, its presence can be seen in high-altitude shrubbery, grasslands, slopes and other areas at elevations of 2700-5100 meters in western and northwestern Sichuan. It is undoubtedly a silly flower and under suitable conditions, it can grow up to 1.5 meters or even taller.

In the above story and its actual growth, the attitude and growth ability of Foolish Flower towards life are particularly admirable.

What is life? Zhuangzi said: The living send back, and the dead return. Life comes naturally but never goes away. Life is never pleasant, and death is never sad. Life requires a discerning eye that can see through appearances. Life needs to be as open-minded and optimistic as a fool’s flower, resilient and tenacious, able to accept and face various uncertainities in life calmly. Cherish the present, even in the face of separation and death, even in the face of difficulties and hardships, still bloom in brilliance, fearless and fearless, showing and transmitting the tenacity and beauty of life. A fool is not a fool, there is great wisdom.

Meconopsis Racemosa

Meconopsis  is a group with rapid evolution. So many similar but different blue flowers bloom proudly and independently in the plateau ice, snow, scorching sun and rainstorm, as if silently telling us that there are many aspects of human personality and many kinds of flowers.

According to relevant plant literature records, there are over 10 species of meconopsis distributed in Sichuan. When visiting Sichuan to see meconopsis, Balang Mountain and Jiajin Mountain are the first choices. If meconopsis  is a beauty in the wilderness, then the Meconopsis racemosa in Balang Mountain and Jiajin Mountain are the high cold goddesses with prosperous appearances on the western Sichuan Plateau.Meconopsis  stamens in both places are brilliant golden yellow.

The Meconopsis racemosa in Jiajin Mountain  has petals ranging from dark red to dark purple black, with a unique metallic luster. The Meconopsis racemosa in Balang Mountain  has shown significant regional changes, with broad leaves covered in dark spikes and petals varying from pink purple to blue purple and then to cobalt blue.

In 2000, Mr. Zeng Gang, the founder of our company, was the first to discover the racemose green velvet wormwood in Jiajin Mountain. In 2011, plant photographer Fumio Yoshida proposed to the World Council for Plant Sciences to subdivide the unique community of the Meconopsis racemosa found in the Balangshan and Jiajinshan areas and name it Meconopsis Balangensis, which was approved. In recent years, due to the uniqueness of Meconopsis racemosa in Jiajin Mountain , which can no longer be seen outside the Jiajin Mountain area, some classification experts have further subdivided it and published it as” Meconopsis Jiajinsis”.

It is worth mentioning that the Meconopsis racemosa, after hundreds of years of artificial cultivation abroad, has not been successful. To appreciate its beauty, one can only trek across mountains and rivers to the western Sichuan Plateau.

About the Alpine Gardens Society (AGS) in the UK

The Alpine Gardens Society was founded in December 1929 and is the world’s largest professional association for alpine plants. It is passionate about sharing knowledge about alpine plants and has been committed to protecting alpine plants and their habitats, helping people explore alpine plants and small cold resistant plants. The association provides funding for planting conservation projects in the UK and abroad. We also encourage and promote the development of knowledge and skills in the field of alpine plants through AGS seed exchange programs and funding for AGS trainee programs.

Like flowers in the wild, passionate and free, the beauty of western Sichuan lies in plateaus, canyons, snow capped mountains, grasslands, streams. Everywhere is a sea of flowers. From an altitude of 500 to 5000, from the city to the plateau, flowers bloom every summer from June to August, waiting for people to come.

“Flower Observation” is a customized travel product launched by Denho (Chengdu) International Travel Service.From today on ,we will start a series of unique alpine flowers here, taking you to know the most beautiful flowers blooming on the plateau. “Flower Observation” , customized tour groups, multiple routes and plans. Don’t hesitate to go wherever you want. Let’s hope to have the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed and comfortable flower observation tour under the clear blue sky and bright sunshine, walk through the brilliance  with great enthusiasm together.