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Wednesday 13 January 2021 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 9

Page 2 WATCH ADVERTISEMENT Explorer sheds light on glories of the cave world

Uncovering the mystery of what lies below the surface has given a former reporter another domain to discover

By YANG FEIYUE Niudong Cave at the junction of city and , . hat is underneath our feet can often “The cave was like an alien planet, with its Wj captivate us as much as that which strange and complex geological environment, is in plain sight. This was certainly and I had to feel my way around by climbing and r Wthe case as a love of adventure led crawling,” Mr Zhou recalled. a former news reporter to follow a career of spe­ When he came out, he was covered in mud. lunking — the exploration and study of caves. * * The trip also offered Mr Zhou an opportu­ Zhou Yuanjie has explored more than 40 caves // nity to hone his spelunking skills, such as using in Guizhou province, recording these expeditions >* a number of tools to move around the cave and through more than 40,000 pictures and 1,200 - V taking pictures in the process. minutes of video. “It’s very important to get everything in and out & -v The 33-year-old Guizhou resident’s photos and -J safely” he said, adding that a slip-up might cause videos have brought to light the extraordinary 23 a tool to fall on teammates who may be hundreds beauty hidden underground. of metres below him. Mr Zhou’s passion for the fascinating world of As his skills grew, Mr Zhou joined a China- caves was sparked when, in 2012, as a journal­ France team in 2014 and visited the Miaoting ist of a local newspaper, he covered a team on a Cave, categorised as the biggest of its kind, by search and rescue mission to find someone who volume, in the world. It was jointly detected by had accidentally fallen down a naturally-formed N Chinese and European scientists. Experts theo­ rock shaft in neighbouring province. rise that it is capacious enough that a Boeing 747 “It was the first time my eyes were opened to passenger aircraft could fly in it. the dark world under my feet, and I felt all of my “The road to the cave is etched with gullies previous life experiences completely dwarfed,” Mr f of differing heights, which is typical of the karst Zhou said of his awakening. a landform in Guizhou,” Mr Zhou said. They are the The shaft was more than 200 metres (656 feet) first challenge spelunkers have to face. long and, as his helmet’s light reflected off the “The ground is covered with green moss and is geological wonder, it took his breath away. •: very slippery,” he said. ‘You have to be there to see “I felt my sense of time, direction, familiarity ) just how big the cave is.” and comfort all vanish,” he said. m Over the years Mr Zhou has made nine trips In one of those quirks of fate that can change through different entrances to access the Miao­ lives, Mr Zhou, who lives in , capital of ting Cave. Guizhou, found out that he lived close to the 'S Desire for more adventurous spelunking drove m search team’s leader. So he began to learn from him to master technical diving and underwater him about this underground world and the skills photography. 22 necessary to navigate it. m He also became a dive master certified by the “I spent practically all of my energy after work world’s leading scuba diver training organisation, * focusing on spelunking,” Mr Zhou said. V the Professional Association of Diving Instruc­ He learned how to use rope to climb cliffs, how tors, whose headquarters is in California. to snorkel and how to paraglide before he joined To date, more than 6,000 caves have been lo­ professional cave exploration teams. cated across Guizhou, and about 2,000 have been But it took him time, literally, to find his feet. In Clockwise from left: Zhou Yuanjie and explored, said Qian Zhi, vice-president of the Gui­ the beginning he had to conquer vertigo and nau­ his teammates explore a tunnel behind zhou Cave Association, which is affiliated to the sea. “First, you need to learn not to be a burden a waterfall at Yangpi Cave, Guiyang city, mountain resources research institute of Guizhou on the team, as well as how to install equipment Guizhou province, in January last year. Academy of Sciences. and where to go in the unknown territory of a Mr Zhou goes cave diving with his teammates About 200 caves in the province have been cave,” Mr Zhou said. in Tangbian village, Qingzhen city, Guizhou, in tapped for various purposes, such as for develop­ “Safety is of the utmost importance, and every November 2019. Mr Zhou photographs a cliff ing tourism. team member has to receive rigorous training climbing competition in Zhongshan , The Shuanghe Cave in Wenquan town of and learn to deal with the extreme environment city, Guizhou, in August last year. city and in Zhijin county, in Guizhou, and accidents that might occur at any time.” PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY have both evolved into tourism hot spots, creat­ Mr Zhou also picked up knowledge about ing job opportunities and a marked increase in caves, from rock formations to the changeable local income, Mr Qian said. conditions underground, such as temperature cave they enter. No food or batteries can be left Guizhou abounds in karst landforms that take glistening rock deposits giving some caves the maj­ The consistent temperature has also made and humidity levels. behind. Take nothing but memories. the shape of enclosed depressions, sinkholes, as esty of marble skyscrapers. One might also come the caves ideal places for growing things such as “One needs to know the formation process of “It takes a long time for cave sediments to form, well as cave systems and subterranean rivers. across fossils of ancient marine life or murals left mushrooms or storing food and other supplies. what’s inside a cave, and its different characteris­ and I would rather give up a photo if taking it Caves do not have sunlight, and mobile phone by cave dwellers thousands of years ago. “Of course, all those things need to be done tics during dry and rainy seasons.” would undermine the existing cave structure,” Mr signals are nonexistent. It is another world. But na­ In 2013 Mr Zhou embarked on his first official under long-term supervision and analysis,” Moreover, spelunkers also have to protect the Zhou said. ture has done something special down there, with spelunking expedition and made his way to the Mr Qian said. Survival Changed vocation gives children a voice

of a species By LI YEVGXUE was finally able to clearly enunciate the word another institute. “We need specialists to work baba, meaning dad, for the first time in his life. with them on their willingness to communicate Zhang Ying, 23, could have been a TV news “That moment inspired us so much that we and interact, then we can offer our training on T && presenter after four years studying broadcast­ felt like we could really help other people, and the speech itself.” By SHEN WENDI ing and hosting talk shows at Shaanxi Univer­ bring hope to their families, so after the sum­ Voice Changer also launched a mini pro­ -Z." : sity of Science and Technology. So could Du Xin- mer practice we decided to start the project,” Ms gramme on WeChat that provides online servic­ A small herd of milu deer — six males and four A fight between two male milu over the right tong, who is one of her senior school classmates. Zhang said. es for families of children with speech disorders. females — paces back and forth uneasily at the to mate, provided to china daily However, instead of becoming talking heads on After graduating in 2018, Ms Du decided to With this, parents can upload their child’s in­ entrance of a shelter in Nanhaizi Milu Park in Da- TV, the pair decided to implement their knowl­ make the project a full-time endeavour, and Ms formation and recordings to the self-testing tool xing district beyond the South Fifth Ring Road edge of public speaking and enunciation to help Zhang followed a year later. and obtain a report. As well as online speech of . Notably, they have formed wild groups inde­ millions of children with speech disorders. Yan Si, 29, met Ms Du at an entrepreneur therapy, there are online courses for parents, After a few minutes’ hesitation, the leading pendent of the protection of human beings. Graduating from college and receiving her competition in 2019 and she was so moved by including guidance for speech therapy at home. milu, puffing in trepidation, finally steps out and When huge floods in 1998 destroyed the fences national speech therapist certificate in 2019, Ms Ms Du’s programme that she joined the team. Ms Zhang said that even though online leads the rest of the deer along a wire-fenced pas­ in Shishou Nature Reserve, north of the Yangtze Zhang is pursuing a career as a speech therapist. To further develop the programme, the wom­ courses lack some interaction with children, sageway set up by researchers at the Beijing Milu River, more than 30 milu swam across the river. She and Ms Du met in 2016 after being en founded the company and, in August 2019, they enable them to help more children outside Ecological Research Centre that leads to a truck. They found a new home near East Dongting teamed together during a period of volunteer they opened their speech language learning stu­ . On December 7 the vehicle took them to East Lake where they formed what became the first work during the summer break. dio in Shanghai. Ms Yan said Voice Changer receives govern­ Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve in Hu­ wild herd of milu. When they were researching topics for their Each child needs to finish at least one three- ment subsidies as a way of supporting children nan province, Central China, which is to be their As a species adapts to a new environment, social work project, they discovered that many month course, which consists of three 40-min­ from low-income families. new home. They were relocated to enrich the it gradually develops certain genetic features, children who have had surgery to repair a cleft ute sessions a week, Ms Zhang said. The length According to the 2019 annual conference re­ gene pool of the milu herd in the nature reserve. keeping the useful traits and eliminating the bad lip are in need of speech therapy. of the overall programme is dependent on each port of the Chinese Speech-Language Hearing Also known as Pere David’s deer, milu are na­ ones. If members of the same species from differ­ Following that fortuitous meeting, they co­ child’s condition after evaluation. Association, there are only 10,000 speech thera­ tive to China, where they roamed on the marshes ent locations interbreed, it enriches their genetic founded Voice Changer, which offers language “When we are teaching in-person courses, the pists in China, many of whom are not full-time, and plains along the Yellow River and the Yang­ diversity and reduces the possibility of disease. rehabilitation for teenagers in China through parents cannot accompany their children,” she Ms Yan said. tze River. But due to hunting and the loss of their This is why the milu from Nanhaizi are be­ online and in-person service platforms. said. “The children may feel a bit nervous in a Unlike common volunteer work, to be a natural habitat, their population dwindled to ing taken to East Dongting Lake, said Bai Jiade, The organisation won the 2019 New Genera­ strange environment, but they soon get used to speech therapist volunteer, complex training is about 200 during the (1644-1911), director of the Beijing Milu Ecological Research tion Entrepreneurship Venture Competition, it and start to enjoy the training. required before services can be offered. when the last of the species could be found at Centre. among several other prizes. “They have different speech disorders: some “Speech therapy is a complex subject that re­ Nanhaizi, which was then the royal hunting park. The centre has sent 546 milu to 41 nature re­ In December, the pair was crowned cham­ may suffer from a functional disorder, some quires knowledge including training in educa­ The deer, which combine the features of a serves across the country since 1989. pions of China and made the world top 12 at may have language issues, and some are autistic tion, psychology, linguistics, physiology and pa­ horse’s face, a donkey’s tail, a cow’s hooves and a “There are more than 8,000 milu in China the She Loves Tech international entrepreneur children who choose not to talk.” thology,” Ms Yan said, adding that Voice Changer stag’s antlers, were viewed as auspicious in Chi­ now,” Mr Bai said. “To have milu from Beijing in­ competition. Ms Zhang said in training children with au­ has developed a training system for volunteers nese mythology, but fortune did not smile on the tegrate into the wild groups in other places is an More than 1,000 families have received speech tism, Voice Changer works with partners from to grow into professional speech therapists. milu and the species died out in the country in important way to help protect the species.” therapy from Voice Changer, and the team now the early 1900s. The 10 milu that were transported to East aims to train more speech therapists, drawn Fortunately, a French missionary named Pere Dongting Lake this time consists of both young from college volunteers, to help more children David introduced the deer to France in 1866. and elderly deer. In the summers to come they with speech disorders across the country. Later, a few more were transported to other Eu­ will compete for leadership and mates. “The surgical repair of a cleft lip is just one ropean countries. They have no idea of the plan laid out for step,” Ms Zhang said. “The children need more However, the scattered migrants did not fare them. The 30-hour trip has made them sullen speech training after that, especially on how to well in Europe, until Duke Herbrand Russell and tired. make and perceive sounds, which is based on managed to gather 18 milu at Woburn Abbey, As the truck drives into the reserve, they perk phonetics. As phonetics was part of the syllabus England, in 1898. Finally, they found a sanctuary. up after smelling the marsh. during our major, we thought we could use our Beijing Milu Ecological Research Centre was What awaits them is a broad field of 190 hect­ understanding of the subject to help.” founded in 1985 with the aim of reintroducing ares (470 acres) with abundant water, grass and After some basic training on physiology and *18 milu to China. From 1985 to 1987 joint efforts sedges, more than 200 bird and plant species, pathology from doctors at a local hospital, Ms * brought 38 milu back to Nanhaizi Milu Park. and others of their kind. Zhang and other team members hosted a four- In 1986 Milu Natural Reserve in Dafeng, Jiang­ Getting off the truck, they take a short break day training course at the hospital for seven su province, was founded, bringing another 39 in a shelter. The moment the fences open, they children with speech problems. milu from England. Together, these 77 milu laid bounce out and break into a trot, vanishing into Some of the children have articulation dis­ the foundation for the restoration of the species the reeds. But this is not the end of their story. orders, such as sound errors with glottal stops ) • in China. Soon they will be put to the test. A waterproof — the sounds produced by obstructing airflow As their number in China increased, more na­ GPS collar is attached to each of them that will in the vocal tract. Children who have a problem I -V ture reserves were established in areas that they enable the researchers to observe. doing that can make it sound like the child is were known to once inhabit. Today they can be In the coming decades researchers will further omitting a consonant. For instance, when they found in 81 areas throughout China, their num­ analyse the behaviour and evolution of the spe­ say “ball”, it may sound like “all”. ber having grown to more than 8,000 over the 35 cies with genetic tools, and their influence on the Ms Zhang remembers a father’s joy when a years since their return. ecosystem as a flagship wetland species. 4-year-old boy, after some intensive training, The Voice Changer team teaches a child with a speech disorder, provided to china daily

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