LANZHOU - Zhang Xuelong, a researcher at an observation center in the Qilian Mountains, removed an underground measuring pipe and marked down the number. "The depth of the seasonally frozen ground has decreased by 27 centimeters in the past 16 years," he said. The recession of frozen soil indicates the impacts of global warming - a climate change phenomenon caused by human activity and industrial development, which is affecting the Qilian Mountains hinterland, in northwestern China. Photos taken by Xinhua reporters recorded the striking recession of glaciers. Scientific data backed up what can be seen the pictures. Over the past 50 years, the Qilian Mountains have lost 509 glaciers. The once endless prairie, wetlands and flowing rivers have become parched land and dry riverbeds after decades of over-exploitation. OFFICIALS TURNING A BLIND EYE PUNISHED The Qilian Mountains stand on the border of Gansu and Qinghai provinces. The nature reserve was designated a national protected site in 1988, but hundreds of mines in the area, and many kinds of construction projects, have continued to take a toll on the environment. The Qilian Mountains basin contains over 150 hydropower stations, 42 of which are located within the reserve, leading to severe disruption of the local ecosystem. Many of the projects have violated regulations in the processes of gaining approval and construction. The problems exist far beyond that. An inspection team from the central government has found various irregularities in the area, including over-exploitation of mineral resources, illegal construction and operation of hydropower facilities, excessive emissions by local enterprises, as well as the failure of local officials to rectify existing environmental issues, according to a document jointly released by the general offices of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council Thursday. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Forestry Administration have requested Gansu's forestry department as well as the local government rectify the irregularities, but that work has been slow. "The violations were fundamentally a result of a lack of environmental awareness by local officials and their failure to implement environmental protection policies," Thursday's document said. Therefore, in the document, the central government decided that officials, including Yang Zixing, vice governor of Gansu Province, will be held accountable for their failure to prevent and look into the environmental issues. They have also been urged to learn a lesson from the incident. DITCH OUTDATED MINDSET Scores of coal mines have been shut down over the past weeks after the document was handed to local officials early June. Xinhua reporters paid a visit to the Qilian Mountains last month and found all mining and tourism development projects had been suspended or closed, and a round-the-clock surveillance system was monitoring the water flow of hydropower projects to protect the lower reaches of rivers. Bearing the major responsibility for mine exploitation, the provincial department of land and resources said all illegal mining activities within the reserve will be banned, and no new projects will be approved. The Gansu environmental protection bureau also said they will launch a pilot monitoring network that combines new technologies such as satellite remote-sensing and drones, with enhanced in-situ inspections to implement real-time supervision of local ecological protection. Cities along the Qilian Mountain belt are also working hard to get rid of outdated, unsustainable development modes, while embracing a greener economic pattern. "We plan to spend three years returning farmland to forests or grassland and reducing the city's reliance on mining and overgrazing," said Yang Weijun, CPC chief in the city of Zhangye. silicone bracelet maker24 hour braceletswellies and wristbandsglow wristbandssilicone rubber bandsflash drive wristband
Giant pandas Yang Bang and Hai Bang at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture, Japan, June 4, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua] Three giant pandas that returned from Japan will meet visitors after a monthlong quarantine is completed at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province. Two experienced keepers will care for Hai Bang, Yang Bang and You Bang in their new residence opposite the main office building of the base, said information officer Chen Cheng. The panda residence is in the base's old animal hospital, which has no other panda inhabitants, she said. To help the trio adapt, a Japanese keeper will stay at the base for several days. The keeper brought some water and bamboo from Japan, as the pandas were accustomed to it. Their Japanese food might be slightly different from that in the base, Chen said. Zhang Hemin, executive director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wenchuan county, Sichuan, said pandas born overseas should have no problem with their new Chinese home, as the species has a marked ability to adapt to new environments. The three pandas were born at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture, Japan, in 2010 and 2012. Hai Bang, a male, and Yang Bang, a female, are twins. Their mother, Liang Bang, now lives in Japan; she was born in 2000. One major reason for their return is that they have reached a sexually mature age and need partners, Chen said. Back in 1994, with the approval of China's central government, the base began collaborating on panda research and breeding with Adventure World. Fifteen panda cubs have been born in the park. Eight of them were previously sent to the Chengdu base, Chen said. Under an agreement for global giant panda preservation, pandas born overseas belong to China and must be returned to the country after they turn 2. Chen declined to comment on why the three pandas born in Japan had their stay extended for such a long time. Before their departure from Japan, a grand send-off ceremony was held at Adventure World, and around 1,200 Japanese fans said goodbye.
