"Primula" is a Latin word for "early spring," but for the mountains of Shangri-La where the altitude is over 3,000 meters above sea level, the colorful primula plants thrive in late June.

Shangri-La is a county-level city in Yunnan Province. The humid continental climate and low degree of human interference have provided a comfortable living environment for many unique species. 

The yellow and pink-purple primula both have bell-shaped flowers and they look the same outside of color, but they are actually not the same species.

Primula secundiflora. Photo took at a mountain of Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, June 22, 2019. /CGTN Photo

Primula secundiflora or exentric flower primrose is a kind of beautiful Chinese primula with a purple-pink color. It is endemic to the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, eastern Qinghai and western Sichuan Province.

Primula florindae. Photo took at a mountain of Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, June 22, 2019. /CGTN Photo

Primula florindae also known as giant cowslip or florind primrose, it was first collected by an English botanist Frank Kindon-Ward and was named after his wife Florinda. This species is more commonly found in eastern Tibet.

In China, these flowers are commonly found in the forests, however, in western countries they are introduced and growing at the edge of ponds and in bog gardens.

Photo took at a mountain of Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, June 22, 2019. /CGTN Photo