The lawyer whose judgment helped her follow in her father’s footsteps
In 1980, Yang Haishan began working as a ranger in the Changbai Mountains, Jilin province. Later, he tried to persuade his daughter to follow in his footsteps, but she had other ideas.
“I sent her to study at the law school at Jilin University, expecting her to use her skills to protect our mountains from being destroyed by poachers. Even though she had a well-paid job and worked in a comfortable environment, she should have come back and fulfilled the mission of protecting our mother mountains,” the 63-year-old ranger said.
However, his daughter Yang Jian did not agree. After graduation in 2004, she worked at a court in Changchun, Jilin, a job the local people deemed an “iron rice bowl” — that is, a job for life — and later became a judge.
“At the time, I was unwilling to listen to a word he (her father) said. Who would be willing to stay in a poor valley for their entire life?” she recalled when interviewed on Feb 12.
However, in 2010, she changed her mind and returned to help her father with his work.
“He got rheumatism in the knees after years of tramping across the cold mountains. Every night after his patrol, he hobbled home on a crutch. He was too tired to even eat dinner. I felt very sad when I saw him in such an unhealthy condition,” she said.
On the mountains, the temperature can fall as low as -44 C. Ice and snow cover the hills for nine months of the year. The snowdrifts can be as deep as 2 meters.
Yang Haishan never took a holiday: in spring, he watched for fires 24 hours a day; in summer and fall, he prevented poachers from entering the mountain area; and in winter, he carried corn up the slopes to feed wild animals.
His diet on the mountains consisted of dry steamed buns and pickles. Sometimes, when it was too late to get down safely, he slept in a tree bark “tent” he built himself.
He said he endured all the hardships and maintained his passion because he didn’t want to see the natural beauty that had been handed down through the generations ruined by outside influences.
“In the 1980s, there were many animals on the mountain, including roe deer, golden eagles, otters, sable (a type of marten) and lynx. After the number of poachers rose, some species were rarely seen again. I was heartbroken,” he recalled.
“I regard my daughter as my greatest treasure, but due to my work, I didn’t take care of her well. I felt sorry for her but I was committed to my mission of changing the Changbai Mountains into a more beautiful and thriving place. Now, she is, too.”
Yang Jian works at a protection station, where she is responsible for recording information and data about the flora and fauna. She also works as a ranger when necessary.
During the past 30 years, her father has taken about 10,000 photos of rare plants such as Changbai ginseng and cordyceps (a type of fungus), along with wildlife and birds such as Chinese mergansers.
The photos form the basis of an archive devoted to local wildlife, and now Yang Jian also has a camera and is continuing the work.
She hopes her 8-year-old son will learn to love the mountains as deeply as she and his grandfather do, and will eventually become as committed as them to protecting the local environment.