Xinzhou, December 12, Chinanews.com -- Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, has a new look on the banks of the Yellow River

Chinanews reporter Yang Jing

The surging Yellow River, meandering and turning, twists and turns, arrived in Shanxi.

The Yellow River is not only one of the most important rivers in northern China, but also an important water source and an integral part of Shanxi's ecosystem. The Yellow River flows through many cities and counties in Shanxi Province, and in the past, due to overexploitation and irrational land use, soil erosion along the Yellow River in Shanxi Province was a serious problem. Over the years, Shanxi has made unremitting efforts to control mountains and rivers, treat poverty and become rich, protect and develop in the process of development, and ensure that "a clear water flows into the Yellow River", so that the mother river will continue to benefit the beautiful Shanxi.

Xinzhou is the first city where the Yellow River enters Jinjin, and the Yellow River flows through the three counties of Biguan, Hequ and Baode within the city area, with a total length of 171 kilometers. In recent years, Xinzhou has continuously strengthened the governance of the river basin system, painted the background color with blue water, and continued to promote the simultaneous improvement of "good scenery" and "green economy" in the Xinzhou section of the Yellow River Basin.

From the Yellow River Tianyi Observation Deck in Biguan County, the turquoise Yellow River water flows in the mountains. Photo by Wu Qiong

"In the past, when it was windy, there was sand and dust everywhere, and sometimes I had to light up the lights at home during the day. It's much better now, the mountains and rivers are green, and there are a lot of tourists in the tourist season. The villagers near the Laoniuwan Scenic Area in Biguan County are deeply touched by the local ecological changes, and now, they have opened homestays, run farmhouses, and eat "ecological rice".

Located on the edge of the Mu Us Desert, since ancient times, the wind is mostly sandy, and there is a drought for nine times in ten years. In order to change this appearance, from the 20s of the 70th century, Biguan County launched a "national war" of afforestation and greening, and planted trees at the foot of the Great Wall and along the Yellow River, and the county's land greening rate increased from less than 1977% in 4 to 48.6% today.

Wang Anrong, director of the Biguan County Forestry Bureau, said that the trees were planted by hand. "Through scientific planning, suitable places and trees, and adapting measures to local conditions, we can exchange for today's green waters and green mountains."

Wang Anrong introduced that in recent years, Pianguan County has taken the opportunity of fighting the "bend" of the Yellow River to deeply integrate into the major strategic layout of ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, unremittingly planting trees, improving the ecology, and achieving the stage results of mountain control, greening, water culverting and sand fixation.

Among them, in 2023, the county will complete the construction of 6,9 mu of new afforestation and 22 forest villages in the ecological corridor of the Great Wall and the Yellow River. At present, the greening rate of forests and grasses along the Yellow River and the Great Wall in Biguan County has reached more than 60%, and the forest coverage rate has reached more than 13%.

The "greening" of the Biguan is not an isolated case, and Hequ County, which is separated from the Biguan County, is also constantly trying to tell the "Yellow River Story".

Data map: Biguan County has promoted the ecological governance of the Yellow River Basin, and has achieved remarkable results. Photo by Yang Jing

Yuling Village, Tugou Township, Hequ County, is a typical pure agricultural village with a remote geographical location and thin fields and barren land. In the past, there were ravines and scarce resources, and our ancestors had "relied on the sky for food" for generations. Today, Yuling Licun has become a "star village" for local rural revitalization.

The change of Yuling Village benefited from the practice of "ditch rectification". In 2018, Xinzhou City put forward the ditch governance idea of "whole ditch management, one ditch and one product". As a hilly and gully area with serious soil erosion in the Yellow River Basin, Hequ County took this opportunity to start from the prevention and control of soil erosion and promote ecological governance, adhered to comprehensive management, systematic management and source management, explored "rectification ditch management" in the county, and promoted the ecological governance of the Yellow River Basin, with remarkable results.

Invest in the construction of new basic farmland and terraces, fill ditches and land reclamation, and establish 69 concave solar energy-saving greenhouses... With the greenhouse, Yuling Licun has built a high-standard demonstration agricultural park integrating organic planting, sightseeing and picking, and cold chain transportation, and has embarked on a new road of integrating water control and rejuvenation in arid areas with rural revitalization.

Data map: The beautiful scenery of the Yellow River Provincial Wetland Park in Hequ County. Photo by Yang Jing

In addition, Hequ County excavates and creates a cultural tourism belt along the Yellow River, watching the Yellow River, looking at the Great Wall, tasting food, listening to folk songs... The value of local eco-tourism products has doubled, and the Yellow River culture shines brightly in the meanders of the river.

"The mountains are high and the stones are exposed, and they are not harvested for ten years and nine years", which used to be a true portrayal of Baode County, which is located in the hinterland of the Loess Plateau and the east bank of the Yellow River in the northwest of Shanxi Province. In the early 20s of the 50th century, there were only 1000,0 acres of forests in Baode County, and the forest coverage rate was only 06.<>%.

Over the past decades, Baode County has continuously increased the protection and restoration of the ecological environment along the Yellow River, and vigorously promoted afforestation and greening along the Yellow River. At the same time, the county focuses on soil erosion, takes soil and water conservation and prevention and control of soil erosion as an important starting point to promote high-quality development, strengthens water pollution control and water resources protection, and draws a new picture of green ecology on the banks of the Yellow River.

Data shows that as of 2020, the forest coverage rate of Baode County has reached 12.95%, and green continues to spread on the Loess Plateau.

From the border to the meanders to Baode, the Yellow River flows through Xinzhou, leaving a picturesque beauty, and Xinzhou also strives to protect the ecological background of the Yellow River.

The green mountains are always there, and the green water flows forever. On the answer sheet of "a stream of clear water flows into the Yellow River", the story of the Yellow River in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province continues for thousands of years, writing a moving chapter in the construction of ecological civilization in the new era. (ENDS)