In the tea forest, the fallen trees live on

In the tea forests of Yunnan's Jingmai Mountain, fallen trees are never considered waste.

There is a rule in the village: A fallen tree must never be sold, but rather be left where it is. The ethnic Bulang people believe that when a tree falls, it is "returning home." As compost, it will eventually nourish other tea trees and plants, becoming a key link in the ecological cycle and the continuation of life.

This non-intervention has nurtured the thousand-year-old ancient tea forests. Fallen trees decompose to enrich the soil, and new seedlings sprout from the humus. "Death" sustains "life" in a demonstration of the simplest cycle of life.

This is the foundation of the Eastern wisdom for coping with climate change and promoting sustainable development. Rather than greedily concentrating on "usefulness", this wisdom teaches that we should respect the natural cycle; only then will the mountains and forests around us continue to thrive.