18 | Monday, September 7, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE XIAOKANG@GRASSROOTS usheng village resident He Licheng still remem­ bers when he was young, Erhai Lake in Dali Bai Gautonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, was so clean that he usu­ ally drank water directly from the lake. A CLEAR VISION “There were not many people liv­ ing by the lake, and nobody threw rubbish or discharged sewage into it, so the water remained grade I, After years of hard work, changes and personal the top in the country’s five­tier water quality system.” sacrifice by the local residents, Erhai Lake is seeing a In the 1980s, however, the water cleaner, healthier future, Wang Ru and Li Yingqing quality of the lake deteriorated and “we no longer drank the water”, he report in Dali, Yunnan province. says. In 1996, he even witnessed a massive outbreak of blue­green algae which “made the water smell terrible, and I felt heart­broken”. Recalling the past, the now 52­year­old who grew up by the lake says, “I experienced several start­overs in my career, and they are all related to the protection of Erhai Lake.” As the seventh­largest freshwa­ ter lake in China, Erhai Lake has a watershed area of 2,562 square kilometers, and more than 860,000 people are living in the area now, according to Yang Chu, a deputy mayor of Dali city. Born into a fisherman’s family, He started to go fishing with his parents in 1983 when he was 15, liv­ ing on the money he made from selling fish. In 1989, He rented a 1.13­hectare tidal flat near the lake, and built it into a fishpond to raise fish with his savings. He was earning around 3,000 yuan ($438.3) a year at that time. He worked very hard, and, by 1993, was able to upgrade from a small wooden boat to a big powerboat in 1993 with the 20,000 yuan he saved. However, just three years later, when the blue­green algae Erhai Lake viewed from Gusheng village, hometown of rural resident He Licheng in Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province. WANG RU / CHINA DAILY appeared in 1996, the local govern­ ment issued a ban on using such vessels in a bid to control fishing pollution in the drainage area. and prevent pollution in the lake. Now they focus on how people’s He was unable to sell his power­ lifestyles influence the lake. boat for more than the price of “An important question we need scrap metal, and upon receiving to consider is how to find a way to compensation of 2,000 yuan from make people live in harmony with the government, he turned his the lake, so that it can be protected back on making a living through without impacting the develop­ fishing. ment of economy in the watershed Four years later, in a bid to pro­ area,” he adds. tect the lake’s surrounding wet­ “In recent years, water quality of land, He was required to remove Erhai Lake has fluctuated between the pond he had run for 11 years, grade II and grade III. Our goal is and was compensated 28,000 to have it remain at grade II all the yuan. year round. Currently we get that “My 11 years of effort seemed to for seven months, and the remain­ be in vain. The loss was hard to cal­ Left: Gusheng village resident He Licheng in his homestay. His career has started over several times as a result of the area’s ongoing effort to ing five are grade III. Although we culate. It was really hard for me to protect Erhai Lake. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Right: Travelers pick pears at He’s homestay in Dali. LI YINGQING / CHINA DAILY have done a lot of work, we still accept at first, but gradually I did need more time to achieve our and persuaded myself to start over goal,” says Wang. in my career,” says He. have difficulty even living by it, let permission to reopen. ditches and wetland, which would Recalling the past, He says, “I He converted his family home by alone developing its surrounding “Those eight months were peak allow the pollutants from the rain­ have experienced most of the the lake into a homestay in 2012. As Although we have area.” travel season, a rough estimate of wash or the runoff from the fields measures put in place to protect the only homestay in Gusheng vil­ Yang says the effort to control how much income I lost is around to be retained at the lake shore. I Erhai over the past 38 years. It was lage at that time, He was drawing suffered a few times pollution and improve water quali­ 50,000 yuan,” says He. know it will help to greatly really hard for me to give up my an annual income of more than over the years, with ty started in 1996, and intensified In 2018, the 1,806 residents that improve water quality. boat, remove the pond and demol­ 40,000 yuan. Following the visit of following Xi’s visit in 2015. lived in the core area of Erhai Lake “Although we have suffered a few ish houses, but considering that President Xi Jinping to the village the improving water As a result, just as his homestay nature reserve were required to times over the years, with the they can help protect Erhai Lake, in 2015, visitor numbers grew even quality, more business started to develop good move out, and some buildings were improving water quality, more which will be beneficial to our off­ higher, and his yearly income grew momentum, in 2017, all the res­ demolished. He found part of his travelers come to Erhai Lake, and spring, I believe my sacrifices are to about 200,000 yuan. travelers come to taurants and homestays by the homestay was inside the boundary my business is getting better,” says worthwhile. I can see Erhai is Xi’s visit also made him realize Erhai Lake, and my lake were required to close to of the reserve, so he had to demol­ He. cleaner than before, so our life will the importance of protecting Erhai improve their sewage treatment ish part of his courtyard and house According to Wang Xinze, a pro­ get better.” Lake. “President Xi told us we must business is getting facilities. He invested nearly totaling 156 square meters. fessor at Shanghai Jiaotong Uni­ protect Erhai Lake, and I began to better.” 100,000 yuan, closing his home­ But this time, He found it easier versity’s Dali Research Institute, to Contact the writers at realize that we can only develop in stay for eight months, which to accept the loss. “I got to know improve Erhai Lake’s water quality, [email protected] a sustainable way to ensure the He Licheng, local resident, Dali underwent repeated inspection, the government’s plan to build an they first considered the lake itself, Bai autonomous prefecture, ecology of the lake. If the lake Yunnan province to bring the sewage purification ecological corridor, a natural cancelling powerboats and fish­ Chen Yuehua contributed to this became too polluted, we would system up to regulations and gain waterfront, lined with trees, grass, ponds. Then they sought to control story. Rural Yunnan enjoys a better life amid rapidly blooming local economy By WANG RU and LI YINGQING the subdistrict produced 200 million 90,000 loose, and 50,000 potted, in Kunming yuan worth of product in 2019. hydrangeas, making nearly 300,000 According to Qi Yaobin, a local The flower business yuan. Although the price was much When Lyu Yunxiong retired from official, “The climate in Kunming is cheaper than before, it at least the army in 2014, he worked as an suitable for growing flowers. We can has become the main recouped some of the losses suffered auxiliary policeman. However, after say 70 percent of the flowers in the pillar of the economy by the farmers.” just five months, the then 23­year­ Chinese market come from Yunnan, People in the area also do well in old decided to return home to grow then 70 percent of Yunnan’s flower here, and plays a big planting succulents, and they have flowers. come from Jinning district, and our role in leading local formed a relatively mature online “I noticed local flower businesses subdistrict is the main flower­plant­ sales channel. developing rapidly. Most of the peo­ ing area in the district. people to a better life.” “Succulent plants are always wel­ ple in our village were growing flow­ “The flower business has become Qi Yaobin, local official, Bao­ comed in the market, and more than ers, and I discovered that they had the main pillar of the economy here, feng subdistrict, Jinning district, 300 groups have come to our subdis­ all converted their dilapidated hous­ and plays a big role in leading local Kunming, Yunnan province trict to buy them from us to sell es into beautiful big ones over the people to a better life,” says Qi. through livestreaming. Now the course of just a few years. That’s why In the past, people in the area planting area for them has reached I thought growing flowers would be mainly grew vegetables, but they returns are not immediate. But, over more than 200 hectares,” says Han, a profitable venture,” says Lyu. found they could plant flowers as the course of several years, it is much who estimates he will earn about His choice, it seems, was a wise well.