In June 2017, we embarked on our third plant-hunting expedition deep into the northern Gaoligong Mountains that straddle the borders of Burma, Yunnan and Tibet. The aim of the expedition was to be the first trekking party to traverse the entire northern section of the range from the Nujiang Valley to the Dulong Valley. While the trip was a huge success botanically, ultimately we were thwarted in our aim of completing a full traverse by deep snow which blocked the descent from the final pass.

This latest adventure only reinforced our opinion that the region is truly one of Asia's best kept secrets - a sanctuary of untouced wilderness that is not only spectacularly beautiful, but is also probably the most prolific temperate biosphere in the world. While the abundance of rare and wonderful flowers will draw us back to these remote peaks again next June, we are are also tempted to undertake an expedition one year in September, which will give us the best chance (when all the snow has melted) of completing a full traverse of the range.