A view of Daguping Village in Foping County, Shaanxi Province. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
Wang Xiaolin of Daguping Village, Foping County, Shaanxi Province, has a dog called "Fat Fat", a border collie who is not afraid of people and likes to run fast on mountain roads for short distances, and someone must throw a stone into the creek below the mountain, and the fat can rush into the river at the bottom of the gravel bed, pick up a small stone, and grin at people while shaking his head and tail in the splash of water. But between 2014 and 2015, the village was turned into a "dog-free village" to prevent the canine distemper virus from threatening the lives of nearby pandas.
Wang Xiaolin, a villager in Daguping Village, Foping County, Shaanxi Province, raised a border shepherd dog "Fat Fat". Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
According to the "Foping County 2019 National Economic and Social Development Statistical Communiqué", the total registered population of the county is 32,572 people, and a gymnasium can accommodate the people of the county. But it's one of the regions with the highest density of wild giant panda populations in China, where high-speed rail runs directly to Beijing and Shanghai. On October 12 this year, Foping, the first county of pandas, was listed in the list of giant panda national parks.
Cities: Becoming refined in the midst of controversy
A milky white train crossed the Qinling Mountains in the drizzle, bypassing a mountain beam, the window opened up, and the silhouette of the small mountain bag in the smoke and rain in the distance was crowded together like a steamed bun. Zhao Dong, an IT engineer from Beijing, accompanied his wife back to Hanzhong to visit his parents-in-law, and saw a portrait of a giant panda hidden in the vast greenery outside the window, which was quite unexpected, and there was such a delicate place in Shaanxi?
The panda arch in front of the foping high-speed rail station square with a novel shape. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
The county seat is long and clear, and the width from east to west is even less than a kilometer. The neat and new buildings are facing the foothills of Qinling Mountain, standing on both sides of the Jiaoxi River, and no matter which direction people live in, they can see the mountain by pushing the door. The county town does not have "discount promotions", "washing and cutting blowing nineteen pieces of eight" and other audio amplifiers, the street can see the Qinling Museum of Man and Nature, known as the "first museum of the Northwest Animal Specimen Exhibition", giant panda shape sculptures, libraries and retro style commercial streets, in the bamboo forest, the building appears quiet and serene. Even if you open the windows on the 7th floor of the hotel, you can hear the sound of the stream under the bridge.
Foping County Commercial Street. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
Cao Qing, senior engineer of Shaanxi Foping National Nature Reserve Management Bureau (hereinafter referred to as "Foping Bureau"), graduated from university in 1990 and was assigned to work in the Foping Bureau, Cao Qing described Foping in the 90s as a difficult to understand the "border city", a small county town, from the south to the north, a cigarette, can not be extinguished. The entire Foping is hidden in the foothills of the Qinling Mountains, and it is necessary to buy tickets three days or even a week in advance to go to Xi'an and Beijing. "Therefore, when I first came to Foping, my mood was somewhat complicated. At that time, our classmates all went to a big city like Xi'an. Fo Ping? It's too small. ”
The story that follows, the Foping people believe, is an urban epic written with the giant panda as the protagonist. This city of more than 30,000 people not only escaped the fate of abolishing county-level administrative units, but also joined the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve Network in 2004; in 2017, Foping County became one of the four counties and districts in the province to take the lead in poverty alleviation; in 2019, Foping County ranked among the "good" sequence of the comprehensive evaluation of the province's poverty alleviation effectiveness assessment, ranking "the first square" in the assessment of the effectiveness of poverty alleviation in all counties and districts in the province, and was rated as the "first county" in the province's implementation of the new development concept of county economic and social development Since 2011, it has won the honor of "Striving for the Leading County" in the economic and social development of the province and county for 4 times; on July 22, 2020, the characteristic town of Giant Panda National Park (Qinling) was listed in Foping County.
The entire Buddha's Ping is hidden in the foothills of the Qinling Mountains. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
In July this year, the whole foping county was hotly discussed on the Internet because there were 9 taxis, and now the number of taxis in Foping has increased to 10. In a city that has shared cars and shared electric vehicles at the same time, running taxis does not seem to make money. The high-speed rail station square is even more deserted because of the rain, and four taxis have stopped motionlessly on the front street of the station for more than two hours, and the taxi owner said that sometimes he can only earn a dozen yuan a day. A hotel lady who lives in the north of the county is used to going out to sweep a panda-shaped shared car, "Foping is so small, there are cars everywhere, sharing electric vehicles, sharing trams, bicycles, and taxis." It's so convenient to go out. ”
Although Foping is small, it has developed rapidly in recent years. Cao Qing, 54 years old, likes to take guests from other places to wander around a high ground one kilometer south of the city, which is completely preserved as the county town looked like 30 years ago: a bungalow with a red brick low eaves, the window ledge is covered with dust and full of debris; the bungalow is built near the edge of the highland, curved into a crescent shape, facing several small five-story buildings with thick walls, "This building used to be the tallest building in foping. In 1986, a reporter came here to interview and said that this building, which was considered a tall building at that time, looked at the mountains and was majestic, like a Potala Palace. Cao Qing said that this was the former office of the Buddhist Security Bureau, "At that time, there were many young people who were assigned here after graduating from college." In the blink of an eye, decades have passed. ”
In the distance, the high-speed rail train passes in front of the mountain forest and the white building forest, and the "Potala Palace" in front of it, which has some peeling off the skin of the wall, looks low and dilapidated in comparison. Below is a brand new plastic playground where a group of children play soccer. "This is the super grand Foping Middle School, and the building and playground are new." Some residents talked about Foping Middle School, and their faces showed pride, "There are things that schools in big cities outside have, and Foping Middle School has them." ”
Foping County High-speed Railway Station. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
"Now the children are also happy, go out to play on weekends, say go to Hanzhong, say to go to Beijing, Shanghai, Qinhuangdao, a ticket, and leave." A county civil servant told reporters that in recent years, the traffic has been convenient, and there are more young people who have left Foping; there are also many young people who have taken the examination from other places, "Foping lives comfortably, lives for a long time, wanders on the street, walks a few steps to see acquaintances, you need to say hello." ”
According to the "2019 National Economic and Social Development Statistical Communiqué of Foping County", there are 2991 people in the pension insurance of organs and institutions in Foping County, and a supermarket owner said, "In the county street, stop individuals casually, and all families have work in public institutions." Liu Kun, 26 years old, was admitted to the Buddhist Protection Bureau from his hometown in The South Zheng District of Hanzhong two years ago, and worked as a ranger at the Daguping Protection Station, "There are not many people here, but the modern facilities are very complete, there are high-speed rail libraries and commercial streets, so living here, less stressful, more comfortable." ”
Historically, the population of Foping was no more than 40,000 at most, but during the Qing Dynasty, there were administrative departments at the same level as prefectures and counties. In 1824, Lu Kun, then the governor of Shaanxi, said in a note entitled "The Conference Added foping hall to the zhishu" submitted to the Daoguang Emperor that Foping was located in the remote mountainous area of Qinling Mountains, which was easy to cause turmoil, and the management of the local government was beyond the reach of the whip, and finally, the Daoguang Emperor established the Foping Hall in 1825, with the scope of management spanning the southern and northern foothills of Qinling, and the administrative office was located in the territory of the current Zhouzhi County and the northern foothills of Qinling.
In 1958, Foping County was abolished due to its sparse population and other factors, and the local area became a place where bandits gathered because of its deep mountain and closed traffic; the "Foping County Chronicle" records that a group of more than 300 criminals from Gansu to the local Wazhaizi village plotted to launch a riot in the local area under the cover of the lofty mountains of Qinling. In September 1961, Foping was restored to the county system again.
"In the past, the county system existed to prevent banditry; now it has a greater mission, that is, to protect the ecological environment here and drive the people in the mountains to become rich." A county party committee worker told reporters that Foping County is an important water conservation area of the national south-to-north water diversion project and the main water diversion point of the provincial Hanjiwei project, "There are precious species such as giant pandas and antelopes, and the protection of the primary forest ecology is the consensus of the government and the masses." ”
Village: Waiting in devotion
Qinling is a line on the map that distinguishes between southern and northern China, but to walk in the real environment, Qinling is a forest universe that is difficult for people to get out of. "This mountain, the ridge, the river, the patrol must walk with foot." Xiong Baiquan, 59, has participated in wildlife patrol work since 1980, when he was established in the Foping Conservation Area, "The main content of the work is: patrolling, monitoring, fire prevention, and stopping illegal entry into the area." ”
Ranger Xiong Baiquan, 59 years old. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
Rangers work on a trek through mountains and waters, recording changes in vegetation on each line, as well as the frequency of wildlife such as giant pandas and their traces. The Qinling giant panda survey began in 1974 and has been surveyed about every 10 years since then. Nearly 300 square kilometers of Foping Nature Reserve are all included in the key survey areas, with an average of one sample line per two square meters, and the length of each sample line is 5-10 kilometers, "and these sample lines need to be walked by people." "Xiongbaiquan has been walking for more than 40 years, and now sometimes when I get up in the morning, I will feel joint pain," going to a farter monitoring point and wading through the river dozens of times is a common thing; and sometimes, the snow has sealed the mountain, and you can only live on the mountain. Over the decades, some joint problems have fallen. ”
It is common for rangers to wade through rivers during patrol work. Courtesy of respondents
A stream flows from the depths of the bamboo forest, and on the right side rushes out a gravel beach, and in some sections of the river, you can see layers of white travertine that spread out. "It was by this river that people found a brown panda and named it 'Dandan.'" Cao Qing introduced that this was discovered in 1985, the world's first brown giant panda to be discovered, has been permanently preserved as a specimen in the Qinling Museum of Man and Nature in Foping County. The strange thing is that Dan Dan and Qin Qin, who gave birth to Bending, did not have any brown, "Sometimes, we also gossip, why can't brown mothers give birth to brown sons?" ”
Cao Qing, senior engineer of the Foping National Nature Reserve Management Bureau in Shaanxi Province, introduced the world's first discovered specimen of dandan, a brown giant panda. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin filmed and produced
Although the Foping Nature Reserve has the highest distribution density of wild giant pandas in China, it is not easy to see giant pandas in the wild. Liu Kun, who has been a ranger for two years, has only seen wild pandas twice, "At that time, a mother panda was under the tree, and the baby panda was in the tree." Liu Kun recalled that when he was watching them from a distance, for about a minute, they left.
"It's nice to see each other for a minute." Wild pandas are very clever, and as soon as they encounter people, they will immediately run away. Only when the partner or baby is in the tree, the panda is not in a hurry to go. Xiong Baiquan said that it was very lucky and worthwhile to see a giant panda once.
Dandan, a brown giant panda, found a hanging horse ditch. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
Cao Qing said that according to the literature, the day of wild giant pandas is spent like this: eating for 14 hours, playing for 1 hour, and the rest of the time for sleeping. Based on a rich food base and based on low-energy food, each giant panda can only live a life of eating and sleeping and waking up to eat most of the time without distraction.
The villagers also like the pandas as much as the rangers. Wang Xiaolin, the village secretary of Daguping Village, was once a local guide of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and was called a "folk giant panda expert" by the villagers, "In fact, when I was three or four years old, I saw a giant panda near the village, and I didn't know what it was." Only later did I learn that it was a giant panda. Later, he took scientific researchers into the mountains to do academic research, gave them guidance, and slowly mastered the habits and characteristics of giant pandas. ”
A male panda named Joy was holding a bamboo and chewing, and Wang Xiaolin pressed the camera shutter about a meter away from it. "And joy has known each other for seventeen or eight years, and it is not afraid of me." Wang Xiaolin recalled that Joy was a baby panda at the beginning, loved to eat bamboo shoots, and now she is the grandfather of the panda world, "A wild giant panda lives in its 20s. But Joy was in estrus in March and April, and also fought with other pandas to rob his wife. ”
There is a photo of joyful courtship in the Qinling Museum of Man and Nature: joy hovers on the slope, and the female panda hides under the slope and refuses to come out. "It was the spring of 2018, and Joy was relentlessly trailing the mother panda, perhaps the mother panda wanted to find a brother who was matched by her age, and did not want to marry this grandfather-level 'big coffee', so she hid in a hole." Joy is the 'old jianghu', knowing exactly where the 'crush' is located, hovering above the cave where the female panda hides. If I mastered the language of the panda world, I really wasn't sure whether to tell Joy 'MeiMei is hiding in the hole under the stone', or to tell the little beauty of the panda 'Hide well, hold on, the old man is overhead'! Cao Qing wrote in an article using anthropomorphism.
In the Qinling Museum of Man and Nature, there are photos of giant pandas joyfully courting. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
Villagers feel that pandas are cute and precious, and they should not be angry if they destroy crops or steal honey, and now the state also has subsidies for protecting wild animals and harming people and property. Song Huailian, 55, feels that the panda eats something, but also helps the state take care of the national treasure, and even sometimes does not apply for subsidies. Pandas eat my stuff, I don't feel bad! ”
On December 6, 2014, the 8-year-old female giant panda "Chengcheng" fell ill and was diagnosed with canine distemper, and died at 1:50 p.m. on December 9, 2015; on the 24th, "Dabao", who was the same age as Chengcheng, was also diagnosed with canine distemper, and died at about 1:00 p.m. on January 4, 2015...
"At that time, we were heartbroken to death, the researchers were distressed, and the villagers were also distressed." Cao Qing recalled that at that time, all the personnel in the reserve were worried, and the whole district entered a state of emergency, "in the winter and spring season, the virus is easy to circulate." Canine distemper is a highly exposed infectious disease caused by canine distemper virus, and the intensity and severity of the disease are very high in the various diseases suffered by dogs. ”
"At that time, I had two border herders, and I was several years old. The village also has dogs. But I was really afraid that dogs would transmit the virus to giant pandas. We killed all the dogs in the village. As Wang Xiaolin spoke, Chubby snuggled up to a man's foot by the fire to sleep; outside the door, a Labrador dog who was also Wang Xiaolin's family looked at the red dogwood trees in the distance.
Wang Xiaolin's two side herders. Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin photographed
"Since 2015, dogs in the village have been strictly quarantined and vaccinated. In fact, our village has kept dogs for generations, because the village is too close to wild animals, and it will be more practical to have dogs around. Song Jiancai grabbed a stone and threw it into the stream, and Bian Mu Fat immediately rushed down the mountain, stirring the stone-covered riverbed into a shaky state, and grabbing a stone to shake his tail and grinning at the people on the shore.
Antelopes, pandas, crested ibises, golden snub-nosed monkeys... These rare wild animals live in this county in the hinterland of the Qinling Mountains, which makes people who live here all year round feel sincerely proud. Have you ever seen a giant panda in the wild? For such a problem, people in the adjacent nature reserves are not surprised, who has not seen a giant panda?
Villagers near the Foping Nature Reserve seem to be accustomed to such an honor as the "Giant Panda National Park", just like they or their children, carrying bamboo baskets and hoes, suddenly encountering a thick giant panda in the stream and the ground, the feeling is like reuniting with a neighbor who has been away for a long time.
Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin
Edited by Tang Zheng Proofreader Wang Xin