CGTN takes you to Zhalong nature reserve in northeastern China.  Known as the "Land of the Cranes," the reserve is truly a gift of Mother Nature for the locals.

Autumn is in the air and nature is showing off its beauty.

Zhalong wetland, located near the city of Qiqihar, has contributed to biodiversity, clean water and provided a habitat for hundreds of animal and plant species.

Covering an area of 2,100 square kilometers, this marshland is a major migratory route for birds from the Arctic to Southeast Asia. The reserve serves as a stopover and nesting area for a large number of storks, swans, herons, grebes and other species. Its ponds and reeds make it an ideal home for over 300 different species of birds, including six kinds of cranes, especially red-crowned cranes. In April and May of each year, the white and red-crowned cranes rest here, then proceed with their journey up north.

The reserve was under preparation as early as 1976, and in 1979, the Zhalong Provincial Natural Reserve was established by the approval of Heilongjiang provincial government. In 1987, it was approved as a National Natural Reserve. Five years later, when China signed the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance mainly as a waterfowl habitat, the Zhalong National Natural Reserve was added to the list of international important wetlands.