Chollipo Arboretum

South Korea, South Korea

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Chollipo Arboretum (Cheollipo Arboretum) is among Asia's top botanical institutions and the first arboretum in Asia to be recognized by the International Dendrology Society as one of the world's most beautiful arboretums in 2000, located on South Korea's west coast in Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, approximately 2–3 hours from Seoul. Founded in 1962 by Carl Ferris Miller (also known as Min Pyong-gal or Min Byeong-gal), an American naturalized Korean who was a banker and stockbroker in Seoul, the arboretum grew over 40 years from one hectare of barren sandy land to its current 60–64 hectares, housing over 16,900 different varieties of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous species from more than 60 countries. The arboretum is internationally renowned for its extensive collections of magnolias (450 varieties), holly, camellia, maple, and Rose of Sharon, and is especially famous for its spectacular magnolia blooms in spring. Only a fraction of the vast property is open to the public, but even that portion is spectacular, featuring pine forests near a sandy beach, blooming magnolias, and beautiful ponds with lilies, and it opened to the public in 2009 despite existing for decades.