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Dumping the desk job made the difference

Yang Xin was on the first team to raft down the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, an adventure from which his love of the region was born. The 46-year-old talks about swapping accounting for environmentalism, his passion for the great outdoors and the importance of a good beard.

Why did you become involved in protecting the environment?

Twenty years ago I was an accountant at a state-owned enterprise. I was fascinated with photography and travel, especially on rivers. My life changed in 1986. That year, a group of Americans announced they would be the first to raft down the upper reaches of the Yangtze. Yao Maoshu, a Sichuan photographer, died in an attempt to beat the Americans. This created a nationalistic fervour and many young people joined the race to beat the Americans. I was one of them.

The Chinese teams had no experience and poor equipment, and were driven only by patriotism: it had to be a Chinese who got down first! Ten more people died in two teams, but at last we made it down and became the first team to survey the entire course of the river. This experience allowed me to learn more about the river and toughened my character. Since then, I have become involved in protecting the environment around the Yangtze.

How did you start your career in environmental protection?

After the rafting expedition, I returned to my job, got married and had a son. But I could not stop thinking about the river and the friends who died. I travelled back many times and found the ecological situation deteriorating. Around 1993, I decided to pack in the stable job and do something to solve the environmental problems. In 1994, I returned to the region and made a TV documentary about shrinking glaciers and other serious problems caused by economic development. During the trip, I heard the story of Suonan Dajie - a Tibetan hero who protected Tibetan antelopes, or chiru. He was shot in Hoh Xil, in the remote far northwest of Qinghai , in 1994 while protecting the animals. When his body was found, the minus 40 degrees Celsius temperatures had turned his corpse into an ice sculpture. He was holding a gun and was surrounded by a thousand antelope skins. I was so touched by this that I decided to fulfil his wish and build a small nature reserve protection station.

How did you go about building the first private nature conservation station on the mainland?

In the first six months we had no money. We tried to get help from the media and the government but we didn't get anywhere. A friend suggested I write a book about my adventures and use the sales to build the station. Soul of the Yangtze River was released by a Guangdong publisher in 1997. We used the book as a guarantee for construction materials, and secured funds from a Hong Kong green group, Friends of the Earth, to establish the Suonan Dajie Nature Reserve Protection Station. It has been a success, attracting volunteers and tripling the number of chiru in Hoh Xil.

Why do you still have a beard after so many years? Is it a trademark?

I don't need a trademark. I keep the beard because I've lived for years in the wild in Hoh Xil. I stayed there for six years from 1997 to 2003. A beard is the best protection from sandstorms and ultraviolet radiation.

What are you doing now you are back from Hoh Xil?

I'm spending time at Green River, another organisation I set up in 1997. We have been working on two main projects. The 'Yangtze River Headstream Anthropology' studies the effects of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on people who live in surrounding areas. The other is a study of shrinking glaciers.

How do you financially support the projects?

Lots of people donate to the projects. But mostly, we edit and publish books on Yangtze topics to raise funds and promote awareness.

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