"Remember Homesickness" rural revitalization chapter
Broadcast content: "Guan Dai - Give Home to Yangzi Crocodile"
Broadcast time: January 19, 2023 (Thursday) 20:00
Broadcast channel: CCTV-4 Chinese international channel
Guandai, Zhejiang "China Yangtze Crocodile Village"
This is the Yangtze Crocodile Nature Reserve located in Guandai Village, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, covering an area of 375 acres, with more than 8,000 Yangzi crocodiles living in it, so Guandai Village is also known as "Chinese Yangzi Crocodile Village".
The Yangzi crocodile is a unique crocodile species in China, called "Yong" in the history books, and the "pig dragon" mentioned by Pu Songling in "Liaozhai Zhi Yi" is also it, and in Guandai, people call it "water gecko".
In most people's impressions, crocodiles are fierce and dangerous creatures, but for Guan Dai people, they are commonplace partners in beating small people. Locals told us that these "water geckos" not only never attacked them, but sometimes went to the village to beg for food.
Guandai Village is located on an alluvial plain surrounded by mountains in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with rich wetlands and dense vegetation, which is very suitable for Yangtze crocodiles. In this landscape, people and crocodiles have been together for more than 2,000 years.
Guardian Guardian of the common home of people and crocodiles
The reason why this place can become the home of the Yangzi crocodile is thanks to a unique local water conservancy system, "㘰 dike".
This is a kind of water conservancy project shaped like a "dou", and its history in Guandai can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty. At that time, due to the low-lying terrain and frequent floods, people began to build embankments with soil for the safety of farmland and people, and gradually formed areas one after another.
Because there are fields and water in the area, the vegetation is dense, and the humid environment is suitable for crocodiles, they come here along the Yangtze River.
Now, before the onset of winter, the Guandai people will go to the embankment to check the danger. Where there are hidden dangers, the young and middle-aged people in the village will build "taiping piles" together, ramming logs six or seven meters high into the roots of the embankment to stabilize the embankment.
After more than 2,000 years, in the cultivation and protection year after year, the home where this party lives together with crocodiles has also been guarded from generation to generation.
Let the descendants of the Yangtze crocodile family be full
However, in the seventies and eighties of the twentieth century, with the advancement of urbanization, there were fewer and fewer river beach waters suitable for the survival of Yangzi crocodiles, and Yangzi crocodiles were on the verge of extinction.
In 1975, Professor Huang Zhujian of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences accidentally found the traces of the Yangzi crocodile when he came to Guandai to investigate, so he told the local villagers that the "water gecko" here is a first-class protected wild animal, and if it is encountered, it must be well protected.
In 1979, a fish pond was specially vacated in the village to gather the 11 Yangzi crocodiles found at that time for conservation, which became the first private Yangzi crocodile reserve in China.
At that time, people's lives were not rich, and there were no conditions to buy fish, meat and other food for these protected animals, but everyone would still try their best to feed them, often catching toads with flashlights on windy, rainy and thunderous nights.
The Guandai people regard the Yangzi crocodiles as a member of the village, caring for them like a family member and guarding the landscape. Today, the 11 Yangzi crocodiles protected by the villagers have grown to more than 8,000. Ancient species have taken off the "endangered" hat, where man and nature live in harmony and achieve each other.
The whole village was relocated and the home was given to the Yangzi crocodile
In 2007, with the increasing number of Yangzi crocodiles, the Yangzi Crocodile Sanctuary in Guandai Village was upgraded to a provincial nature reserve. In order to make enough living space for the Yangzi crocodile, the Guandai people made another decision to relocate the entire village.
It was an extremely difficult decision for the Chinese who relocated to settle the land, and the old house that lived for generations carried the family history and preserved childhood memories. But for the sake of these little friends who have been with them for two thousand years, Guan Dai people still endured the pain of cutting their love and gave up their home.
In order to allow everyone to adapt to the new environment as soon as possible, in addition to providing economic subsidies, the government has also built complete living facilities in the new village, including health centers, supermarkets, and kindergartens.
Now, more than ten years have passed, and people are gradually adapting to the new living environment. Many villagers have returned to work in protected areas and receive a steady monthly income. In their spare time, villagers raise flowers and vegetables in front of their homes, and life is more comfortable than before.
Tonight at 20:00, walk into the "China Yangzi Crocodile Village", see the "water gecko" of the Guandai people, and listen to the story of people and crocodiles relying on each other.
Edit the | Wang Linyan
Cartographic | Liu Chen