Yun Jianli with children Photo: Courtesy of Yun  

Editor's Note:

Over the last decade, China has witnessed tremendous changes, which could not have been achieved without the hard work of its people. 

There are many ways to record the last decade, but the story that, at times, leaves a mark on each person is surely the most vivid. To greet the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) scheduled to be held later this year, the Global Times has launched a series of stories to show esteem to people from all walks of life who have contributed their wisdom and energy to the realization of the Chinese Dream. 

In this installment, a river chief - hezhang in Chinese - on the Yangtze River's longest branch shares her impressions of the improvement in governmental policy support and people's awareness in water environmental protection.

The Hanjiang River passes Xiangyang city, Central China's Hubei Province Photo: VCG

Even at the age of 78, Yun Jianli never tires of promoting environmental conservation on the Hanjiang River.

The 1,577-kilometer-long river that runs through six provincial regions is the longest branch of the Yangtze River. It is known as the "mother river" for the folks living along it.

Twenty-two years ago, when Yun learned about the extent of pollution in the Hanjiang River, she saw an urgent mission to protect the river. She organized an environmental association in 2002 and devoted herself to the conservation work in Xiangyang, Central China's Hubei Province. Xiangyang is a key city on the Hanjiang River. 

Through her advocacy, more and more people joined the army of environmental protection.

But it was in the last decade that tremendous improvements have occurred in environmental and ecological conservation across China. The idea that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people.

In 2017, Yun became one of the first "folk river chiefs" in the country, an honor to acknowledge her hard work, as well as a duty to motivate her in guarding Hanjiang River and the Yangtze River.

First rolled out in 2003, the river chief system has been promoted across the country since 2017 and has seen significant positive results. 

By the end of 2021, more than 300,000 river chiefs around China had been appointed, covering cities, townships, counties and provinces, the People's Daily reported in January, citing the Ministry of Water Resources.

It is the "final kick" to the comprehensive establishment of China's river and lake management and protection responsibility system. Many problems and crises have been remedied and tackled since then, and the waters in the lakes and rivers have now run clear again.

River boss

In Xiangyang, almost everybody knows Yun. People call her "environment grandma."

Born in 1944, Yun used to be a biology teacher. Before her retirement, she was a member of Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

In 2002, Yun initiated the Environmental Protection Association of Xiangyang, also known as the "Green Hanjiang River," which was the first nongovernmental environmental protection organization in Hubei.

Since the establishment of the association, Yun and her volunteer team have been working on the frontlines of Hanjiang River's protection, and their deeds have inspired more residents to participate in the protection efforts through various activities.

They investigated, for instance, pollution sources along the Hanjiang River and its tributaries hundreds of times, and completed an investigation report on water pollution in the Xiangyang section of the Hanjiang River. 

They helped solve hundreds of pollution cases along the river and have also trained thousands of environmental protection talents for free.

Yun Jianli and teammates at field research Photo: Courtesy of Yun

Once, when Yun's association received a report from a resident that a semiconductor manufacturing company was discharging pollutants into the Hanjiang River, Yun and her volunteers traced and found the discharging location of the company where the wastewater discharged by the factory seriously exceeded the standards.

Yun publicized the case through the media, and reported it to district and city environmental departments. After several months, the company's discharge water was up to code.

When asked by the environmental department why Yun's words had such power, the person in charge of the company said, "Aunt Yun asked us: Your parents and children have to drink water from the Han River. Do you have a good conscience when you discharge sewage into the Han River?"

"It forced us to invest more than 8 million yuan into pollution control facilities. At that time, the cost increased by 20 percent, but the efficiency doubled, and orders from large international companies also began to come in," he said.

In 2017, Yun was "hired" as the first "fork river chief" of the Hanjiang River by the Xiangyang government.

Though no ceremony was held, Yun was awarded with a formal letter of appointment.

Yun said that as a river chief, she is in charge of several tasks. For instance, she has to inspect the pollution management of local rivers and reservoirs. She also needs to "supervise" other river chiefs who are also governmental officials.

She often visits river banks and reservoirs to promote water environmental protection and calls on people to act.

"I have made 1,156 speeches over the last two decades to increase people's awareness in the protection of our river," she said. "Even though now I do not visit the river bank every day, I try my best to do field research as much as possible."

"People would report incidents of river pollution to us, and we would set off to investigate," she said, "We would report to the relevant governmental department as soon as possible afterward."

Calling for more people to participate

"We faced difficulties at the very beginning. For instance, we had problems getting funding. Also, even though most people would welcome our work in environmental protection, there were also many who did not understand us, and they even 'hated' and 'attacked' environmental potection volunteers," she told the Global Times.

"Some pollutant companies, for instance, would rail against our work as our efforts would directly disrupt their businesses," she explained.

"But now the awareness among the public has increased greatly. Also, governance and management around the issue is very clear, and government officials have served as river chiefs too in protecting the rivers," Yun said. 

"River management has become much easier now." Yun would try her best to enter communities, campuses, companies, villages, and governmental institutes to promote the ideas of ecological and environmental water protection.