At over 4,500 meters above sea level, Sanjiangyuan – the source of the Yellow, Yangtze and Lancang rivers – is almost impossible for most people to reach. Yet inside the Sanjiangyuan National Big Data Center for Ecological Protection in Xining, CGTN's Yang Xinmeng watches it in real time: snow melting into streams, wetlands turning green, even a wild yak wandering past. All of it appears on a giant dashboard, fed by satellites, BeiDou GPS and ground sensors.

This is how China's "Water Tower" is protected by data. Every change in water level, snow cover, or vegetation triggers an instant alert, allowing action without sending people into the harsh plateau every day. No boots on the mountain, just technology, keeping the rivers alive from more than 1,000 kilometers away.