Sichuan native Geng Yuying has been a botanist for over 30 years at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is the author of The Genus Rhododendron of China.

Formerly a researcher at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, David Chamberlain is co-author of the IUCN's Red List of Rhododendrons.

Fang Zhendong is the director of the Shangri-la Alpine Botanic Garden, located in Shangri-la, Yunnan province.

Sun Weibang is a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science Kunming Institute of Botany, Yunnan.

Co-founder of the Rhododendron Species Conservation Group, Ian Sinclair is a horticulturist who has worked for many years to protect rhododendrons in Scotland.

Hou Shen is a professor in the Center for Ecological History at Renmin University, Beijing, and author of The City Natural.

Liu Huajie wrote the book Bowu Rensheng (Living as a Naturalist) and teaches philosophy at Peking University in Beijing.

Pan Fujun, a professor at Chinese Culture University in Taiwan, studies plants in China’s literature. He has written a series of books including Plants in the Book of Songs.

Zhang Chao is the associate director of the Huaxi Subalpine Botanic Garden, Sichuan Province.