A batch of seeds was collected on Mount Qomolangma last September by researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Science.

They were kept at minus 20 degrees C to see if they can survive after such freezing temperatures.

Half a year later, researchers picked five kinds of seeds and carried out germination experiments. Nine days later, all of them had successfully germinated.

At an altitude of 6,212 meters, the seeds of Desideria himalayensis have now become the highest plant seeds successfully preserved in the world. (People's Daily)