Month: August 2020

(Xinhua)09:10, July 30, 2019

HOHHOT, July 29 — North Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has planted around 800,000 hectares of forests in the Greater Hinggan Mountain over the past seven decades, local authorities said.

Since 1949, the region has insisted on carrying out afforestation mainly using native tree species and the introduced spruce, sea buckthorn and Siberian red pine, according to the local forestry administration.

The region also has developed its forestry economy to realize a more sustainable development of the local ecosystems.

Currently, the Greater Hinggan Mountain has about 10.3 million hectares of woodlands and about 8.37 million hectares of forests, with the areas forest coverage exceeding 78 percent, according to statistics from Chinas ninth survey of forest resources.

The Inner Mongolia part of the Greater Hinggan Mountain plans to have 1.3 billion cubic meters of living trees and 80.8 percent forest coverage by 2035.

(Xinhua)09:56, July 30, 2019

GUIYANG, July 29 — The death toll from a landslide in southwest Chinas Guizhou Province has risen to 42 while nine were reported as missing, local authorities said Monday.

The landslide lashed a village in Shuicheng County in the city of Liupanshui at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, burying 21 houses. Rescue workers earlier raced against time to recover survivors while preventing secondary disasters.

Eleven people injured in the disaster had been taken to hospitals for treatment, according to the local emergency rescue command.

Based on life detection and the sites risk evaluation, the rescue operation ended midnight Sunday.

On Monday afternoon, more than 700 rescue officials and workers, victims families and local residents held a memorial service for the dead at the landslide site.

Monday marked the seventh day from the time of the disaster, a key traditional date for people to pay respect to the deceased in China.

(Xinhua)10:03, July 30, 2019

HONG KONG, July 29 — A number of civil groups in Chinas Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Monday showed their support for the police, hoping that they continue to work hard to enforce the law and maintain the order and security of Hong Kong.

The police have been striving to protect our safety amid the series of violent demonstrations that happened recently in Hong Kong, which is not easy, Hong Kong resident Chow said outside the Western Police Station, where he joined his friends to show support for the police.

We are here to support the police in strictly enforcing the law, getting rid of bullies and bringing peace to law-abiding people, Chow added.

Jack Shun, a friend of Chow, said that he was very angry about the illegal rallies and protests that took place over the weekend.

Why did those violent protesters throw bricks to the police? We have had enough! We dont want to see the police get hurt, Shun said indignantly, adding that he wanted to see Hong Kong stay stable and prosperous.

A number of civil groups also gathered at the Hong Kong Police Force headquarters to show their support.

More than 30 members from Defend Hong Kong Campaign rallied in front of the police headquarters, holding national flags and flags of Hong Kong SAR, raising banners and placards with slogans expressing their gratitude and support for the police.

Kenny Po, president of Defend Hong Kong Campaign, told reporters that the police have been doing their utmost in fulfilling their duties in order to maintain social order.

Po praised the police for taking appropriate actions promptly to restore order when facing violence by arresting some violent protesters.

We will continue to support the police in enforcing the law strictly and arresting those opposition legislators who have been instigating the youth to stage illegal protests and commit violence, Po said.

Retired Hong Kong resident Yiu Wing Wah were among a group of people at the police headquarters, presenting placards with slogans including well done!, keep it up! and protect Hong Kong to express support for the police.

We are here to express our consolation for the police and to show support for them in continuing to enforce the law and maintain the order and security of Hong Kong, Yiu said.

Our demand is very simple, that is to see stability and prosperity in Hong Kong, and no more damage, the 74-year-old said, adding that the violent protesters blocked the roads and disrupted normal businesses, which not only damaged the rule of law, but also affected Hong Kongs economy.

Meanwhile, some Hong Kong residents also went to the Central Police Station to show their support for the police on Monday.

(Peoples Daily Online)16:44, July 30, 2019

The ratio of pediatricians per 1,000 children in China reached 0.92 in 2018, as the number of pediatricians rose to 230,000 from 154,000 in the previous year, data from the National Center for Childrens Health revealed.

The increasing number of practitioners has relieved the demand-supply mismatch of children鈥檚 doctors, Ni Xin, director of the center, was quoted as saying by the Economic Daily on July 29.

As of last year, China had 228 childrens hospitals and over 20,000 general hospitals had pediatric departments. 42 Chinese universities have opened pediatrics majors and 586 medical bases were established to train pediatricians.

In rural areas, by the end of 2018, 32,765 children with congenital heart disease received treatment, of which 84.9 percent of the expense was covered by the national medical insurance. 19,348 children with leukemia received treatment, of which 85.5 percent of the expense was covered.

(Peoples Daily Online)16:49, July 30, 2019

Tian Yongping stands in the woodland. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

A one-legged Chinese man named Tian Yongping has planted over 1,000 mu (about 66.7 hectares) of trees in his hometown over the past 32 years, hoping to contribute to the protection of the ecological environment of the local area, WeChat account of China News Service reported on July 28.

Tian is a villager in Tianchi Village, Tianchi Township, Wenxian County, Longnan City of northwest China鈥檚 Gansu Province. He dropped out of school and became a lumberjack at the age of 19, as he wanted to help relieve the economic pressure on his parents.

In 1984, Tian lost his left leg in an accident during work and lived in despair for quite a long time. Thanks to encouragement from his wife Xiong Chengxiu, who was his fianc茅e then, Tian went to southwest China鈥檚 Chengdu the following year to get himself a prosthetic leg, and started to learn the cutting propagation technique in the city, intending to make a living on the skill.

Tian eventually decided to return his hometown and plant trees. 鈥淚 had cut down so many trees. Only by planting new trees can we recover the ecological environment of the area back to its previous condition,鈥?said Tian, explaining why he changed his ideas back then.

Tian walks in the woodland near Tianchi Lake with a walking stick (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Tian and his wife began their tree planting journey in 1987, and haven鈥檛 stopped ever since. Every morning, Tian gets up at around 6 o鈥檆lock, and then walks to the woodland near Tianchi Lake of his hometown with a walking stick, carrying food for the day.

The woodland is 3 kilometers away from his home, yet it is a difficult trip for Tian, as it is extremely difficult for a man like him, who walks with a stick and a prosthetic leg, to climb up and down the mountain. In rainy days, it takes Tian about 2 hours to get to the cabin in the woodland.

All of the saplings Tian planted were from the local government. Every spring over the past 32 years, Tian would go to the township government office, and ask to get as many saplings as possible.

At first, the water needed for watering the trees was all carried to the mountain by Tian and his wife, which was a tough job. Later in 1994, the couple found a small pool at the hillside, and thus enhanced their resolve to carry on the task.

鈥淲e were so excited about the discovery for several days,鈥?said Xiong, disclosing how happy they were to find the water source. After the problem of sources of water and saplings had been solved, they started to spend more efforts to plant trees, working day and night.

As he can鈥檛 keep down with the prosthetic leg, Tian would often get down on one knee to dig holes. Sometimes he would dig holes with his bare hands, as he felt the tools were too long and not convenient to use when he knelt down.

In order to save more time for work, Tian and his wife built a simple cabin on the woodland of the mountain, and lived there for 32 years. 鈥淭hinking about how the saplings are all going to survive and become trees, we are satisfied with our life,鈥?said Tian.

When Tian almost spent all his savings on planting trees, he tried to figure out how to make a living. Finally, he thought of the idea of growing polyporus umbellatus, a material of Chinese medicine, under the trees, which has proven to be a success.

Tianchi Township (Photo/Chinanews.com)

By 2003 when China rolled out the policy on returning the grain plots to forestry, Tian鈥檚 woods had already taken shape, with the diameter of some trees reaching around 20 centimeters.

During the past 32 years, Tian wore out 12 prosthetic legs, planted more than 1,000 mu of trees near Tianchi Lake, and taught his fellow villagers how to grow Chinese medicinal crops in woods.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not good enough to live a better-off life myself. I want to try my best to help my fellow villagers live a better life,鈥?said Tian, explaining that he hopes his fellow villagers can shake off poverty and live a better life through hard work.

鈥淭eaching one to fish is better than giving him fish,鈥?said Tian, who was given the title of 鈥渟elf-improvement model of Gansu Province鈥?in 2014.

At present, Tian鈥檚 main job is to patrol and manage the woodland as a forest ranger. Spending so much on the creation of the woods, Tian doesn鈥檛 want to see any wanton felling of trees. He hopes to see his hometown with greener mountains and clearer waters.