The river Bailongjiang, about 576 kilometers long with a catchment area of 31,800 square kilometers, rises in Langmusi, which is located at the juncture of Luqu County, Gansu Province and Ruoergai (Zoige) County, Sichuan Province.

Along Bailongjiang, one can hear the sound of water flowing through rocks and see the lush green hills beyond. A picture of "clear water, green woods, and improved livelihood" is unfolding here.

Du Kai, deputy director of the Scientific Research and Education Section of the Management and Conservation Center of the Axia Provincial Nature Reserve in Bailongjiang, Gansu Province, said that the reserve will rewrite the known distribution of snow leopards in China.

The image of a snow leopard was found from monitoring data of an infrared camera in Axia Provincial Nature Reserve. This was its first appearance in this reserve. 

"I believe that as the ecological environment improves, more and more species will appear in our reserve," Du said.

Next, the reserve is going to systematically monitor this species and establish a long-term mechanism for monitoring. By doing so, they will be able to grasp information of its distribution range and quantity, providing scientific basis for wildlife protection and management in Axia Nature Reserve.

Nowadays, various plants grow in this reserve, such as Abies chensiensis, Abies faxoniana and red birch. The reserve has also become a natural habitat for 10 kinds of national first-class protection animals such as Chinese grouse, tetraophasis obscurus, lophophorus lhuysii and panda, and 30 kinds of national second-class protection animals, such as kite, gorehawk, sparrowhawk and buteo hemilasius.

The green corridor of Bailongjiang with beautiful ecology and environment depicts a scene of harmony between human and nature. The great river promotes the natural environment and high-quality development of the whole basin.

(Cover via Xinhua)