China News Service, Urumqi, December 11th, title: "Planta Hunter" has been obsessed with plants for more than 20 years: Protecting Xinjiang's "One Plant and One Tree"
Author Gou Jipeng
There are more than 2,000 books on plant taxonomy and more than 10,000 plant specimens stacked in the 30-square-meter studio.
Recently, a reporter from China News Agency met Yang Zongzong, a young man from Xinjiang who has been obsessed with plants for more than 20 years.
In the introduction of the self-media platform, Yang Zongzong wrote: “A platform for free plant hunters. He likes to collect flora from various countries, makes plant specimens, and likes to search for mountains and grasslands.” He has become accustomed to being called a “planta hunter”. , "Planta" is the transliteration of the English word "plant".
"Xinjiang is vast, but there are not many types of plants. The discovery of every new species will enrich Xinjiang's treasure house of wild plants." He said.
At the age of 6, Yang Zongzong became attached to plants and fell in love with plants because of a "Handbook of Chinese Herbal Medicine in Xinjiang".
He said: "I have read this pamphlet how many times I have read it. I know the form and function of each medicinal material in my heart. This has planted a seed of plant dreams in my heart."
After the enlightenment, Yang Zongzong fell more "crazy" in love with plants.
In high school, he first officially came into contact with the concept of plant classification in biology class, which opened the door to a "new world" for him.
At the age of 16, he became the first Chinese person to discover the "Little Flower Bird's Nest Orchid" plant. He also won the first prize of the National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition and the only first prize of the first "Yangtze River Young Scientists Award Event".
Later, Yang Zongzong, who loves plants, was recommended to Beijing Normal University to study biology.
But for various reasons, he once suspended plant research.
“It’s happy to like one thing, but it’s not so easy to like one thing all the time in the long road of life.” He said that after he entered society, he had been in business and worked as a bartender, but as a job When I was slowly on the right track, I felt that life was "no hope".
In 2016, he decided to start researching plants again.
"Plant taxonomy is a comprehensive science, and it is a niche interest of'burning money' for amateurs. It is necessary to purchase countless literature and works, the cost of food, lodging and transportation in the wild, cameras, and outdoor equipment. Wait, more time is needed." Yang Zongzong said.
He gave up his stable job, trudged the mountains and rivers every day, and ran out of savings to buy books and professional equipment.
In the eyes of others, he seems "crazy", but only he knows that "crazy for love" is for the pure dream in his heart.
Since then, from April to October every year, Yang Zongzong spent almost all of his time in the wild, and the rest of his time was also spent in this small studio.
Yang Zongzong spent three years trying to find a Fukang Awei that was almost extinct due to excessive digging and trafficking.
He said: "Although I returned with disappointment every time, I didn't give up. I went again later, and after going over the mountain for a day, I finally found it halfway through the mountain."
Yang Zongzong said: "It seems to me a lonely enjoyment to like plant taxonomy, but if there are like-minded friends to appear, it is the happiest thing." Fortunately, he met.
Along the way, he is no longer alone, with the support of friends and team behind him.
In June of this year, he, together with his friends Chi Jiancai and Ma Ming, edited and completed the "Illustration of Wild Vascular Plants in Northern Xinjiang" that took more than two years to complete. The book included more than 1,600 species of wild vascular plants in northern Xinjiang. There are 825 species only distributed in Xinjiang, and 5 species were recorded for the first time in China. There are nearly 5900 color pictures of plants, each of which was taken by them.
In this way, Yang Zongzong and his companions silently guarded Xinjiang's "plants and trees".
They also established a plant society, regularly launched plant protection actions, went into schools to give lectures on natural science education, and called on more people to protect wild plants.
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