By Xinyi Li, EDITOR

It is Nanchuan District in Chongqing, whose sceneries boast beautiful mountain flowers that are in full blossom all the year round. The connection of the three mountains of Huashan Mountain, Yonglong Mountain, Jiuding Mountain and the confluence of the three rivers of Fengzui River, Longyan River, and Baixi River are all in this region. And Nanchuan people will always remember the Eco-agriculture Grand Park consisted of the twelve representative flower gardens, which present different pictures of the idyllic sceneries with flowers in the four seasons.

The gorgeous natural viewing of Jinfo Mountain (Gold Buddha Mountain)

Nanchuan District is the home to Jinfo Mountain (Gold Buddha Mountain), Longyan City, Yin Zhen Memorial Temple (Hai He Academy), and Shanwangping Karst National Ecological Park. Meanwhile, Cathaya argyrophylla, Azalea, Square Bamboo, Ancient tea tree, as well as cultures of ecology, Chinese herbs, healthcare, local traditions, and Buddhism are also from here. Located under the Jinfo Mountain, the district has the Eco-agriculture Grand Park in its suburb, and the sceneries in the urban and rural regions have brought out the best of each other.

Visitors love this natural place

A wild mountain becomes lushly green

Shanwangping is the first Karst National Ecological Park in China. Every summer, it attracts groups of visitors to avoid the summer heat, bringing benefits to the local villagers.

Today’s people may not believe that Shanwangping was a wild mountain suffered serious stony desertification four decades ago. At that time, it had nothing but stones and weeds.

The beautiful lush mountain

At the mention of the forests, covering over 6 square kilometers, people may think of Shi Zailiang, one local villager here. Shi Zailiang started his career as a forester since 1976 and served at Shanwangping Work Area in 1980. Together with hundreds of foresters, he has been striving to close the land for reforestation.

To select the seeds of trees that can live there, Shi Zailiang had planted experimentally with other technicians and at last decided to plant Cryptomeria, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, and others here. They also grew saplings and pick metasequoia branches for cutting propagation.

Over the past four decades, under the joint efforts of the generations of foresters, the barren mountains, over 6 square kilometers, of Shanwangping have become scenic spots. With over 50 agritainment opened there, it has provided employment positions for over 1,000 villagers.

The tree, Cathaya argyrophylla

The lush mountains and lucid waters of Shanwangping are becoming the “invaluable assets” for villagers.

Cathaya argyrophylla (or Cathaya) is a treasure-like plant from the Quaternary Glacier, about 3 million years ago. It is confined to limited areas in China, and there are only two natural reserves mainly for Cathaya nationwide: Jinfo Mountain in Chongqing and Huaping in Guangxi. People call it the “giant panda among plants” for its rarity. It also has another name of “living plant fossil” for this species has been existed for a long time.

Three Brothers spent nearly four decades in protecting Cathays

In Nanchuan District, three brothers have spent 38 years in total to preserve the “invaluable assets” of Jinfo Mountain. They trudged on the boundless mountains and took pains to protect the Cathaya.

People are doing daily maintenance

In the harvest season, they acted like nimble apes and monkeys and climbed trees to pick the fruits of Cathaya. Most of the wild variety was living on the ridges near cliffs. Fearing the sharp stones on one side and the bottomless cliff on the other side, many people will never approach here. However, Li Guanghua and Li Guanglu, taking knapsack weaved by nylon strips and wearing rubber-soled shoes, chose to face up to the difficulties. They clasped the tree with two hands and moved upward inch after inch, with blue veins appearing on their muscles.

The sprout of the Cathaya argyrophylla, which will be planted into the ground

“We would lose our lives if falling, so we were also afraid.” Li Guanghua said with a smile. “However, other neighbors do not want to do this work. So if we also give up, how could we get the fruits of Cathaya to conduct artificial seedling?” They have seed over 3,000 plants of Cathaya with other researchers.

The three brothers of Li family have been preserving the wild Cathaya in Jinfo Mountain. They have also planted over 3,000 artificial seedlings. Each year, covering over 2,000 kilometers, each of them would wear out over ten pairs of rubber-soled shoes. The total journey over the past 38 years is more than double the earth’s circumference.

The birds-eye viewing of Cathaya argyrophylla

Source: CQCB