China News Service, Suqian, March 19th: The 80-year-old expert has rescued ancient and famous trees many times. Citizens call him "the protector of ancient trees"

  China News Service reporter Liu Lin

  "As long as I have free time, I will come here to see it. It is like an old friend of mine. I will miss it if I haven't seen it for a few days." On the morning of the 19th, a famous forestry expert in Jiangsu Province and "the most beautiful veteran cadre volunteer" in Jiangsu Province , "Good man in China" Zhang Yongxian said in a general sense in Xiang Wang's hometown scenic spot.

  Xiang Wang's hand-planted locust tree is a three-generation regeneration tree with a history of more than 2,200 years.

Legend has it that this tree was planted by Xiang Yu before he left his hometown at the age of 16, and is known as "the first locust tree in the world".

  At the end of 2001, Zhang Yongxian discovered that half of Xiang Wang's hand-planted locust tree had withered from the top to the trunk. He was very worried about it, and went to Beijing and Nanjing at his own expense to humbly ask forestry experts for advice, and finally formed a set of scientific rejuvenation plans.

After the plan was approved and confirmed, he participated in the whole process of soil replacement, fertilization, watering, oiling and antisepsis, and rejuvenating injection of Xiangwangshouzhihuai.

  Zhang Yongxian was born in 1938 and is 85 years old this year. After graduating from university, he has worked in many national forest farms from the northeast to the southwest.

In 1981, Zhang Yongxian was transferred back to his hometown, Suqian, to work as director of Zhangshan Forest Farm.

  Dealing with green trees every day, Zhang Yongxian gradually became "fascinated" by trees. When he saw rare trees, he wanted to study them. After retirement, he often took dry food, a water bottle and a camera on his back, despite the hardships and dangers of the road. Unearth and research every valuable ancient and precious tree.

It is a vivid epitome of his work to let Xiang Wang's hand planted locust turn green again and regain its vitality.

Zhang Yongxian is proficient in the conservation of ancient trees, and has protected many ancient and famous trees in Suqian.

  In the hometown of King Xiang, there is a ginkgo tree that has been growing for more than 700 years. This place was later converted into the Xiangli Hotel.

In 1998, when the Xiangli Hotel was renovated, the ancient ginkgo tree was cut down as planned.

In desperation, Zhang Yongxian carried a branch of a ginkgo tree with a diameter of 22 cm and a length of more than two meters for four or five miles. He rushed into the city government compound in sweat, and counted the fruits on the branch for the city leaders on the spot. There are 108.

With the efforts of Zhang Yongxian, this ancient ginkgo tree was finally preserved and became a scenic spot in the hometown of King Xiang.

  On Zhongshan Road in downtown Suqian, there is a Fatong tree growing in the middle of the road. A protective cement pool is built around the Fatong. Vehicles and pedestrians traveling from south to north walk on both sides of the cement pool.

Every summer, Fatong's branches and leaves are lush, covering both sides of Zhongshan Road, bringing bursts of coolness to passing citizens. It is both safe and a rare sight. This tree is also preserved by Zhang Yongxian. .

  In 2000, Zhongshan Road was widened and reconstructed. According to the plan, this tung tree was to be felled.

"This Fatong tree was planted in 1956 and has been growing for decades. There are very few Fatong trees like this in Suqian, so why can't they be preserved?" For this reason, Zhang Yongxian ran around, and finally at his insistence The construction party changed the plan and kept the Fatong tree.

  In 2018, Zhang Yongxian went on a sightseeing trip to Huai'an City, and found a provincial-level second-class protected ancient tree in the courtyard of Zhou Enlai's former residence.

He immediately started to write a proposal on the rescue and restoration of Guanyin willow, which was highly valued by the relevant departments of Huai'an City.

  With in-depth professional knowledge and rich practical experience, Zhang Yongxian knows the distribution and habits of various tree species like the back of his hand. (Including Ancient Tree Name Book) and other research topics are widely disseminated in the industry; he has won the Provincial Excellent Paper Award and the Science and Technology Progress Award 6 times, and in 1984 won the "Jin Song Award" of the Chinese Forestry Society.

  In view of the dedication and dedication of the elderly Zhang Yongxian, he has been successively rated as an outstanding counselor for the next generation in Jiangsu Province, an outstanding scientific and technological worker of the 5th Jiangsu Association for Old Science and Technology, and the second outstanding cultural elderly in Jiangsu.

In 2019, Zhang Yongxian was named a "good man in China".

In 2020, he was awarded the title of "The Most Beautiful Veteran Volunteer in Jiangsu Province", and in 2021, he was elected as the provincial candidate for the "Most Beautiful Nature Guardian" in the country.

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