Want to have a "chance encounter" with the "world's top" giant panda? Maybe try your luck at the development village in Ya'an, Sichuan!
Development Village is an ancient village with a history of more than 2,000 years, close to Longcanggou National Forest Park and Wawu Mountain Scenic Area, with a radius of 50 square kilometers.
In 2003, in order to protect the habitat of wild giant pandas, the local "Daxiangling Nature Reserve" was established, a small village deep in the mountains, which gradually became known.
Of course, it is not easy to really meet wild giant pandas, and even the scientific researchers of the patrol monitoring team mostly capture the pictures of giant pandas through infrared cameras.
Or by picking up the panda poop, their physical health and feeding status can be monitored.
(Who wouldn't want to be a giant panda"? ）
In the development village, in addition to the daily patrol of the staff, the villagers of the development village also always pay attention to the dynamics of the giant panda, and once they find the trace, they will immediately tell the staff of the reserve.
Accompanied by giant pandas for thousands of years
Since ancient times, wild giant pandas living in Daxiangling have had close contact with local villagers.
In the commentary made by Guo Pu, a member of the Two Jin Dynasties, for the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is mentioned that "Qionglai Mountain, in the Hanjia Yan Dao, there are nine-fold sakas, out of the Qi. Bear-like and black and white barge. ”
Among them, the nine-fold saka is the mountain road south of the Daxiangling Mountain, and the dragon is the ancient name of the panda.
In local legends, there are also stories of giant pandas saving people.
Legend has it that a local villager was scratched by a leopard when he went into the mountains to beat bamboo shoots, but thanks to a giant panda passing by, the leopard was scared away, so that the villagers could go home safely and tell everyone what happened to them.
Since then, the local people have regarded the giant panda as a mascot, and set a rural rule that as long as they encounter a giant panda on the mountain, they must take the initiative to avoid it, and they will not enter the mountain to hunt or pick bamboo shoots for the next three days.
In this way, the locals have followed the tradition for generations and lived next to the giant pandas for thousands of years.
Such a "backer eats the mountain" is not advisable
However, in the Republic of China period, the small mountain village encountered an unprecedented crisis.
Due to the discovery of a large number of iron ore and coal mines in the mountains, people began to mine wildly.
The village first built two kiln mountains for mining iron ore, and then six coal plants. In order to survive, many villagers have also joined the mining of mineral deposits.
By 2000, there were 38 coal mines in the small village.
Coal mining has allowed some villagers to make a lot of money, but the local ecological environment has also suffered great damage.
The village was full of smoke and fire, the habitat of wild animals was gradually destroyed, and the giant pandas began to leave the village and retreat into the mountains.
Villagers began to realize that it was not advisable to "rely on the mountains to eat the mountains", and it was imminent to close the coal mines and restore the ecology.
In 2003, in order to protect the habitat of wild giant pandas, the government established the "Daxiangling Nature Reserve".
In the following two years, the coal mines were shut down one after another, the village gradually returned to clear water and blue sky, and the villagers saw the giant panda in the forest.
Many of the villagers who worked in the mine also changed their identities and became rangers in Daxiangling.
Wild shoots belong to you, and planted shoots belong to me
Bamboo shoots have always been the main industry of the development village.
In the past, everyone went into the mountains to collect wild shoots, but these shoots were the main food source of giant pandas, and in order to keep rations for pandas, villagers no longer went into the mountains to collect wild shoots.
Fortunately, the climate here is very suitable for the growth of bamboo, and people have begun to grow edible bamboo under the mountain themselves.
In order to make up for everyone's economic losses, the government also issued subsidies to villagers at a standard of 200 yuan per mu of land.
In addition, in the process of cultivating and planting bamboo shoots, it was agreed not to use chemical fertilizers, only natural and organic fertilizers.
Today, in the development village, the wild bamboo shoots on the mountain are owned by the giant pandas, and the villagers rely on the bamboo shoots planted under the mountain to increase their income. In the 8,000 acres of bamboo forest in the village, 7,000 tons of bamboo and 200 tons of bamboo shoots are produced every year, and the sales income exceeds 5 million yuan, and the villagers also live a comfortable life in the green mountains and rivers.
Create a "Panda Homestay Village"
With the launch of the pilot project of the giant panda national park system, and the Daxiangling Giant Panda Rewilding Research Base settled here, the development village has attracted more and more tourists.
In order to develop good tourism, the village has carried out cultural and creative development around the panda element, transformed the old houses, widened the roads, improved the public facilities, and successively opened 64 homestays, gradually building the village into a "panda homestay village". In 2021, the total tourism income of the development village will reach 20 million yuan.
Tonight at 20:00, walk into the "Panda Homestay Village" and experience the beautiful life of living next to the giant pandas!
"Remember Nostalgia" rural revitalization series
Broadcast content: "Development Village - Panda Homestay Village, Qingfeng Ya Rain Room"
Broadcast time: 20:00, Monday, February 21, 2022
Broadcast channel: CCTV-4 Chinese international channel
Edit | Wang Linyan