YINCHUAN: After a snowfall, Liupan Mountain was dyed white all over. Yan Xiaoyuan, 46, in bright orange and with a shovel in his hand, a water tank on his back and a pair of binoculars around his neck, began his daily patrol.
It was his 25th Chinese Lunar New Year on Liupan Mountain. A difference in altitude of about 2,500 meters between Yan’s workplace and home has left him no other choice but to join the family reunion via video call.
“We must be more alert especially during Spring Festival to make sure the forests are safe and sound,” Yan said. His parents used to work in the local forest protection departments, and thus understand his absence.
Liupan Mountain, crossing northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is known as a green island on a plateau and a natural water tower, and is rich in plant and animal resources. Therefore, firefighting here is extremely important on dry winter days. There are more than 240 rangers in the Liupan forestry bureau of the city of Guyuan. They have been on duty around the clock in 76 forestry stations, guarding the mountain all year round since 1958.
With houses renovated and solar panels, TVs and Wi-Fi installed in recent years, living conditions in these stations including Yan’s Madiwan have been greatly improved. But food and water still need to be supplied from time to time.
Hui Jitang, 42, has been delivering supplies to Madiwan station about once a week for six years. He needs to drive about 40 km, more than half of which is unsurfaced, posing great challenges for him when it snows or rains. “It’s very dangerous to drive along the slippery road. If you are trapped midway, a mobile phone without any signal will leave you helpless,” Hui said. “But I always managed to meet their needs even during festivals and holidays.”
Yan and his three colleagues are responsible for an area of about 4,000 hectares. They depart at 8 a.m. and end a day’s work at 5 p.m., patrolling 20 km or so over areas with possible human activities, such as entrances to the mountain, to detect fire hazards. They also need to protect wild animals from poachers and observe the forest situation from up the tower every three hours.
“Life here is simple but also a little bit dull, so we tell jokes or sing folk songs to keep things fresh,” said Ma Hongming, who has been a forest ranger for just three months.
Every time Ma meets rare wild animals such as leopards or golden pheasants, he is filled with excitement. “I’ve seen wild boars several times. But I’m not very scared, because they only hurt people when they feel threatened,” Ma said. – The Daily Mail-People’s Daily News exchange item
