Changbai Mountain Lao Wan: I want to do more for 1225 species of wild animals
Let wild sables, red foxes... these lovely creatures in the deep mountains and old forests be seen and screened
Changbai Mountain, the roof of my country's northeast, is known as the "species gene bank". There are as many as 1,225 species of wild animals living here, including many national first-level and second-level protected animals.
However, due to the high altitude of Changbai Mountain and the road blocked by ice and snow in winter, these rare animals are often rarely seen.
Not long ago, the unique wild animals in Changbai Mountain shot by video blogger "Changbai Mountain Lao Wan" became popular on the Internet. Wild sables, red foxes, Siberian tigers, Chinese merganser ducks... These lovely creatures have been seen on the screen.
In a series of wild animal videos he released, the number of likes for a single piece of wild sable, a national first-class protected animal, reached 3.48 million+, netizens commented 130,000+, and it was reposted by People's Daily Online; especially he spent two years Time to follow the story of the growth of the little owl, with more than 140 million plays.
Recently, blogger Lao Wan accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily on the way of the tense "Ecological China Mile", telling him his experience of touching wild animals and starting a business with video in his hometown for ten years.
Lao Wan admits that he is not a "master" in the eyes of others, just because of his love, he enjoys all the happiness in the video shooting, "If I can't shoot once, I will shoot twice. I win by quantity. I want to make my hometown the best. show the side to everyone.”
Started learning photography at the age of 59, and wanted to be at the forefront of new media at the age of 66
Who is "Changbai Mountain Lao Wan"?
Lao Wan, whose real name is Wan Xing Fu, is 66 years old this year.
His experience is quite legendary. Before the age of 45, he worked as a farmer, drove a truck, and worked as a brick factory manager.
Later, he was deceived by people in business. In order to make money, Lao Wan went to France to work. He started as a dishwasher, worked as a chef, opened a hotel, and also opened a cooking training class.
He is enthusiastic and often participates in local networking activities. He has won the amateur group championship of the Paris Table Tennis Club League. He has been invited to participate in the Paris China Annual Conference for several consecutive years and took pictures with the mayor of Paris. He has become a celebrity in the local Chinese circle.
In 2007, 51-year-old Lao Wan chose to return to his hometown of Yanji to live with his family.
At that time, he started a business and entered the cultural tourism industry.
When he really started to learn photography, Lao Wan was 59 years old, and many people advised him that "it's too late to learn photography at this age, not to mention that you have no foundation at all".
Unwilling, Lao Wan went to Zhongguancun alone and spent more than 200,000 savings to buy equipment.
Later, he saw an old classmate playing photography and was inspired, "People take pictures, I'll take videos."
In 2015, Lao Wan organized four young people to start businesses and wanted to open up the market by shooting videos.
He was very impressed. At that time, before Douyin, they would watch news and documentaries every day and learn how others do it.
When they can gradually see some ways, they will make their own films, pull them, modify them, and try their own styles.
At the beginning, I photographed everything, such as landscapes, animals, and made some small films to send out.
During the filming process, Lao Wan found that Hunchun's ecology is very good, and even many local people do not know that there are so many wild animals in the local area, "At that time, the self-media was not developed, and everyone went to get off work from 9 to 5, and they didn't know the people around them. There are geese, red-crowned cranes, and tiger-headed sea eagles. As soon as I saw so much to photograph, I became interested.” Lao Wan thought about such a good thing, and only reported the news every season and passed, “It’s a pity. , I thought it should be taken in depth."
Later, it took Lao Wan a year, spanning 52,000 kilometers, to organize and shoot the large-scale scenery documentary "Flying Over Yanbian".
Unlike other photographers, Lao Wan doesn't care about how to shoot to win awards. His idea is straightforward, "I make videos because I want to start a business and make money. If I don't make money, how can I pay young people's wages?" At first, Lao Wan's company plus five people in total, couldn't get any jobs.
If there is no job, there will be no salary to be paid. Lao Wan finds a way everywhere, "I will make a small video for you. Can you watch it first? If it is good, you can let it go. I don't want a penny." Door-to-door service is almost always hit a wall.
In the first year, Lao Wanquan regarded it as a public welfare program. "Sometimes, when the project is delayed, the filming and mixed films are finally made, and the film that comes out will be given to the other party."
There is a tenacity in Lao Wan, no matter how difficult it is, he will never give up easily.
How can I open the market?
He thought hard about the map and came up with an idea, "We have eight counties and cities in Yanbian, and I will attack each city one city at a time. If Hunchun City succeeds, I will attack Yanji City, and if Yanji City succeeds, I will attack Helong City..." At the beginning, it was very difficult. Lao Wan was stared at in the market and sat on countless cold benches. "I can say that bare feet are not afraid of wearing shoes. Every time I go to a unit, I first go to the leader. When you open the door, the general manager will politely ask about the situation. I will briefly introduce myself, and when I see people are happy, I will hand over the business card. Turn around and go."
Spring is here, and the turning point is coming. Lao Wan captured the moment when 100,000 geese took off, and the black pressure was circling and taking off towards the sky, which was extremely spectacular.
Later, Lao Wan made a small film about "ecological paradise". Although it only lasted three minutes, it was recognized by the local propaganda department. People from all over the country come to take pictures of wild geese and see red-crowned cranes, which drives the ecotourism of the entire Yanbian area.
Lao Wan also got a large order because of this, "You will work for me for a year, and I will do all the work for you."
People of the same age around me usually watch their children at home and enjoy family fun. Lao Wan said with a smile that he has no such idea, "Not at all. My idea is how to take good pictures of wild animals." Grabbing the first-hand material, "I don't feel tired when I go out to shoot. After so many years, I have been there more than a hundred times, and I don't know I am tired." It is necessary to ensure that the film is of high quality, high speed, and high service. "Good, fast and trendy, it must be the best film in this area."
In the spring of 2019, 63-year-old Lao Wan signed up on Douyin, and his followers ranged from 0 to 3.65 million. It took him three years to shoot. He bluntly said that every video he made was real, and his fans did not have a single fake fan. It's the same with everything, so I can't be at ease. I made the video to cultivate young people so that my employees can eat, because the children who come to me are the children of ordinary farmers or ordinary workers. I have built the platform, and they will have hope if they work hard." As long as he has time, Lao Wan will try his best to reply to the concerns of netizens, "There are a lot of messages in the comment area. Everyone's concern is also the driving force for me to shoot."
After chasing mink for three years, I finally got a satisfactory shot
Until now, the 66-year-old Lao Wan feels that his mentality is only in his forties, and his physical strength is no worse than that of young people. He feels that he can't be lazy in doing things. Do it right away, in addition to action, you must have a brain that is constantly learning, "I'm a stupid bird to fly first, I always learn bit by bit, for example, what animal to shoot, you must first understand its habits, when to rest, when to forage, You have to learn. There is no end to learning, you keep learning. If you don’t learn, how can you lead a team?”
Lao Wanguang was not satisfied with shooting birds, so he turned his attention to Changbai Mountain.
Wild animals are difficult to photograph. In order to have a glimpse of the true appearance of sables, Lao Wan will go to Yanbian Xianfeng National Forest Park at the northeastern foot of Changbai Mountain to look for sables every year. Friends, I also became friends with the foxes and sables there.
At that time, many people said that Lao Wan was "crazy", and he felt that he was crazy too, "I heard that there are wild animals, I would run there no matter what time of day, this time waits for no one."
In 2017, a forest ranger who spent the Spring Festival in the mountains found that the frozen apples, pears, chicken legs and meat that were bought in the yard were gone overnight.
Only when I saw the footprints did I know that it was stolen by a sable who came out for food.
She called Lao Wan, "Come here quickly." After Lao Wan and the others arrived, they first waited for the sable to appear at the station, but it didn't come after two days.
On the third morning, Lao Wan decided to go out and look for it.
In the mountains at -28°C, the snow is so thick in some places that it has to be more than one meter deep.
After walking too far, he couldn't take it anymore. "It's hard to talk." Suddenly, Lao Wan found sable footprints on the snow. He was very excited. "There is hope." They pitched the tent and put The machine was waiting in the tent, and the hard work paid off. After a few hours, I finally saw the sable who came out to forage into the camera, "I can see at a glance that it is my favorite 'little flower scarf', the more it grows. The spirit of growing up, the one with bright and shiny hair." Although the distance was 8 meters, the snow on the small hair on the sable's mouth was very delicate, and Lao Wan couldn't help sighing, "Oh, it took three years to take a satisfactory shot. ."
The sable video went viral as soon as it was released, and 20 or 30 CCTV and major media reposted it. "The four sable videos have suddenly gained 1.5 million followers, and a single video has been watched by more than 76 million people." Lao Wan Xiao Yan had no money at the time and the equipment was not good, so he used Canon 5D3 to shoot, "I didn't know when I was shooting, but later I found out that this mink hadn't appeared in more than 30 years, which means that what I photographed was bred after 30 years. , I'm so lucky. After CCTV forwarded it, they contacted me and said, "Mr. Wan, let us know what good things you have taken."
Not long after I was happy, troubles came.
In the comment area, there are people who constantly suspect that Lao Wan is baiting, saying that too many people have hit Lao Wan very hard, "He doesn't say your name like this, but he's just here to attack you, and you can't reply to him. "In fact, Lao Wan said that he spends more than 20 days there almost every winter. He knows that if the sable can't find food in winter, the mother sable will bring the cubs to the station to forage." If the forest ranger If the staff doesn't feed it or eat it, the cub will die. Why did the sable breed after more than 30 years? It's the position where the eagle can't come up, but once it goes down the mountain, there will be many natural enemies. In order to survive, It was only eaten here by the forest rangers. The local government and the Forestry Bureau have recognized it. Every winter, various departments will send some meat such as chicken legs, and the forest rangers will throw in some food every year.”
Later, Lao Wan figured it out, "I think life should be put first, not to mention that the sable is a national first-class protected animal, I can't watch it starve to death without saving it, I can't get through it, it's too cruel. I don't think I did anything wrong. If I encounter such a situation again, I must feed it. Why hasn't the sable appeared in 30 years? This is just a reminder to people that it is already endangered. Appropriate If there is no human intervention, shouldn't it be extinct?" Once, when he was out of the field, his friend called him, "The sea mink has caught the wild goose, go and save it!" Lao Wan said, " Although it is also a protection of animals, but with such a large number of geese, at this time, we must follow natural selection." In his view, as long as there is no excessive artificial intervention, animals can return to nature and balance themselves, "I actually There have also been calls for animal protection stations to be established where the sable lives so that it can breed naturally and safely."
What makes Lao Wan gratified is that through his lens, rare animals such as Siberian tiger, sable, red fox, oriental white stork, great bustard, golden eagle, etc., are seen by more and more people, and many photographers come from all over the country. Shooting sables, and foreigners, "we get four or five hundred people a year." In his opinion, what he does is "not very tall", but it can arouse people's awareness of wildlife protection, and make many people It is very satisfying for him to be the guardian of the state's protected animals.
Follow the growth of the little owl, there are interesting talents in the video
In April 2020, Lao Wan heard that an owl cub fell from a cliff, and the local villagers were helping him. He immediately drove to the rescue.
When I saw the little owl, it was dying.
After Lao Wan was there for a few days, the mother owl found her baby and brought it food.
Lao Wan decided to go back and forth 400 kilometers to record the growth process of the little owl. Every time he came to visit, he brought it some food, chatted, accompany it to thrive, and recorded its first flight.
The next year, the mother owl came here again to build a nest and gave birth to three litters.
In order to avoid the incident of falling off the cliff last time, Lao Wan installed a camera at his own expense, set up a camera, and waited with tens of thousands of netizens for the owl's third baby to break its shell.
After the hard incubation of the mother owl, the eldest and second child were successfully hatched. After some time, the third child finally ushered in the day of breaking the shell.
What surprised and moved netizens was that on this day, the father Owl, who had never appeared before, appeared. Lao Wan took a picture of their family of five reuniting. Tens of millions of netizens were waiting to see this warm scene, and everyone knew that the mother Owl turned out to be When hatching the eggs, the father owl guards within one kilometer to prey on the mother owl, and then the mother feeds it to the "off-screen family" of the little owls.
Speaking of this happy ending, Lao Wan especially sighed that people's awareness of protecting wild animals has increased a lot. "Last year, when the second and third children were about to die, I went to feed them and survived. This year is safe. The camera, the third child was rescued in advance, and he was alive. All three flew away. How wonderful. Everyone understands the feeding this time, and few people accuse me. Everyone also heatedly discussed, "You must protect Lao Wan." Get up'. I'm more than 180 kilometers away from that place. Sometimes I go to feed two days late, and everyone can't wait to be anxious for me, calling me that Lao Wan must go, and I'll pay you the fare for the car and fuel." That's it , With the participation and witness of many netizens, Lao Wan recorded the growth process of the little owl in two years, and the playback volume of related content reached 140 million.
When photographing wild animals, you must get up early and stay up late, and the most difficult thing is to wait patiently, which is unbearable for most people, but Lao Wan enjoys the process of filming very much, "Every time I go out, there are more than 150 kilometers in the nearest place, and I always get up at two in the morning and set off. , I live there at night, the snow in the mountains and forests in winter is waist-deep, especially when it is hidden in the snow nest, I cry." Lao Wan's sharp eyes, like "a pair of eagle eyes", ran away disappointed on the way back , from time to time there will be "unexpected joy".
Once he was far away and found four red-crowned cranes on the river beach, and another time he photographed a white-tailed sea eagle, "Oh, I am very happy."
There seems to be a kind of magic in Lao Wan, and he can naturally get close to animals. He likes to chat with them and talk about everything, just like his old friend.
The saddest part is losing an animal friend.
Once Lao Wan went into the mountains and searched for a few days but couldn't find his old friend "Fox" - a beautiful fox. He later learned that the fox ate a dead mouse and died unfortunately. After calling a few times, Huhu rushed out, "I watched it grow up when I was young, it's like my own child, and it's gone..." Lao Wan's voice choked.
The happiest thing is to save the animals.
On the way down the mountain, Lao Wan found an injured roe deer on the side of the road. He carried the roe deer into the car and sent it to the rescue station overnight.
As long as he is free, Lao Wan will go to see the "roe deer" until it recovers and is released into the wild.
Over the past few years, Lao Wan has clearly felt that wild animals have become particularly numerous and bred well. He admitted that in the beginning he was photographing wild animals to look good in the United States, but later changed to the behavior of photographing animals, "Looking at Lao Wan, watching wild animals, Form an interactive relationship." As the video spreads widely, many people ask Lao Wan the same question: why are your videos so attractive?
Every time, Lao Wan shares dry goods without reservation. "When playing with the Internet, creativity comes first. There must be someone in the work. No one has no soul. Only when there are people in the video is interesting."
Do what you like, and let more people see the beauty of your hometown
Over the past 10 years, Lao Wan has shot over 12 terabytes of wildlife videos, shot 16 unmanned drones, and drives at least 60,000 kilometers a year. He said with a smile, "except for taxi drivers, probably no one 'runs' more than me. "Old Wan admitted that he is not a professional wildlife photographer, because he loves his hometown, especially seeing that the natural environment in his hometown is much better, and he wants to take pictures of the most beautiful mountains, rivers and wild animals in Yanbian for everyone, "Look at our How beautiful my hometown is." As long as he goes out to film, Lao Wan feels excited. He remembers that at 3 a.m. on New Year's Day in 2020, he was the only car on the highway.
Today, Lao Wan's team has grown from the original five people to about thirty people. He has never had the air of a boss, and he especially respects the director system, and several directors he has trained have followed him for five or six years.
Lao Wan is very willing to give money to employees, "I dare to say that I earn more than county civil servants. Our editors, cameras, aerial photography, scripting, everyone is a professional and multi-skilled. As long as they work hard, 5000, 6000, I have been paid 8,000 yuan and 12,000 yuan. There are many young people who are looking for a partner in the company, getting married, and now have a house, a car, and children. I am also very happy to see their growth, and I feel that I have made some contributions to my hometown. ."
Lao Wan is particularly confident that the database he established covers almost all the materials in the Changbai Mountains, such as a large number of winter materials, skiing, tree hanging, various types of characters, and others such as ecology, tourism, and rural areas. , poverty alleviation, and even the theme of the toilet revolution, "All good things are here." For the cooperation that comes to the door, Lao Wan does not make all the money, he has an unshakable principle: "If you come to make a film The reason is to make money, so I don't give any material; but if it is to promote a public welfare film in my hometown, I will provide the material for free." In his opinion, "If you don't love your hometown, who will?"
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Lao Wan was selected as Yanbian's first tourism ambassador. "I will support everything that is beneficial to the prefecture here." On the way, Lao Wan passed through Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, Yushu in Qinghai, Hoh Xil and other places. He not only promoted his hometown of Yanji, but also took pictures of the cultural scenery of various places and put them on the platform.
"I want to really create my own IP and pay attention to the ecology of all parts of the motherland. At this age, I want to do more for others." Lao Wan is full of confidence and expectations for the future.
Text / Photo courtesy of our reporter Li Zhe / Lao Wan