Day 20: Tree Planting on the Lanzhou Hills

For lunch today, Andrew and I decided to travel a little further a-field than what had become the stock-standard for a good cheap lunch. We instead headed somewhere outside the campus further down the road in the opposite direction of our 'usual'. We found a number of food places along the road and chose a large and popular place which housed a number of food stalls. We opted for Beef Noodles, and sat down. (I was very pleased when one of the nearby diner noted that I could use chopsticks better than Andrew ;)

We (i.e. Andrew) got talking to a couple at the same table as us, and found that they were out the nearby School of Arts, he was a teacher and she was an artist completing her Masters at another campus. They invited us back to the school to see some of her works, an offer we readily accepted. There was a fantastic selection of Chinese-style watercolours depicting scenes, flowers and portraits. They then insisted that Andrew and I select a painting each which they would give to us. Andrew tried asking them to accept some money, but they wouldn't take it, astutely noting "It wouldn't be a gift then!". Both Andrew and I were exceedingly grateful for their generosity and will treasure those pieces.

Later that afternoon the group were taken to the Lanzhou Hills to learn about the treeplanting project to "green" Gansu. First we were taken for a tour through the newly opened Lanzhou Green Culture Exposition, housed in a brilliant building with educational displays over three floors. There four four halls, the first depicting the need to protect and enhance the environment in Gansu, the second showing the history of plantings (in the 1950s they cut ice from the Yellow River when it froze, carrying it up the hillside to water the soil!), then the technology in use and specimens of the plantings and wildlife. Finally was a hall depicting the future of Gansu, and it looks very green indeed!

Following these presentations we ourselves were able to get involved and planted a number of trees. The holes were dug already, so it was more a matter of having the plant sitting correctly, filling and compacting with soil, building a mound around the plant to hold water, and watering it! It was pleasing to see the level of understanding and importance held on protecting and enhancing the environment, and I look forward to seeing the state of the environment in twenty years!