Every year from April to May, seas of flowers create beautiful views at a nature reserve for Chinese dove trees in Nayong County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. The rare trees thrive there thanks to the protection efforts of the local people, including hundreds of forest rangers.

Chen Xinggui, a man in his mid-50s, is one of them. He succeeded his father at the age of 16 and has been working in the Chinese dove tree forest for nearly 40 years. His work includes patrolling the forest, making observations from lookout towers and educating visitors about forest protection and fire prevention. Chen said he will continue to take care of the trees even after his retirement.

Covering more than 11,000 hectares of land, the nature reserve was established in 2014 after nearly a million Chinese dove trees were discovered there.