Zhou Xiaolin (R) and Yin Jie have created a garden of over 80 hectares with more than 600 flowers in southwest China's Sichuan Province. [West China Metropolis Daily/Zhu Jianguo]

A Chinese couple have created a garden of over 80 hectares, with more than 600 varieties of flowers, which has been hailed as the "largest private garden in China."

The garden has been cultivated after four years of hard work on the land by its owners in the county of Jintang, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Around eight years ago, Yin Jie suddenly told her husband Zhou Xiaolin that she wanted a garden of her own.

Feeling surprised at first, the man said, "Give me some time and I'll give you the most beautiful garden in the world."

Four years later, Zhou embarked on the path to fulfill his promise and rented the expanse of land in a valley with a tenancy of 30 years.

The loving husband has since been devoted to each detail of his program, from sowing, fertilization to weeding and facilities construction.

The former tour guide, teacher and business manager now looks no different from a local farmer, with sun-tanned face and trousers splashed with mud.

Yin has also been displaying her creativity on a small piece of land, where hundreds of succulents, bamboo fences, scarecrows and a flock of sheep are integrated to present a peaceful landscape.

Over the past years, the pair have invested tens of millions of yuan into the garden, at the price of all their life savings and their properties in the cities. Yet, they never regret it.

Zhou plans to take another 10 or even 20 years to cultivate all the flowers indigenous to China. "Then I can tell the visitors, 'All the Chinese flowers are here,'" he said in excitement.

He revealed that China has yet to designate its national flower, and many Chinese mistakenly think that native plants including rose and lily are from the West.

As he is moving ahead with his bigger ambition, Yin said the whole valley is her home and she thought herself the happiest woman in the world.

The couple in their garden [West China Metropolis Daily/Zhu Jianguo]

Yin attends to her succulents. [West China Metropolis Daily/Zhu Jianguo]

Yin in her breathtaking garden [West China Metropolis Daily/Zhu Jianguo]

Yin enjoys herself in the unique garden her husband has created for her. [West China Metropolis Daily/Zhu Jianguo]

The house of the couple hidden in lush trees and flowers [West China Metropolis Daily/Zhu Jianguo]

(Source: West China Metropolis Daily/Translated and edited by Women of China)

Editor: Eileen Cheng