A salvage team guarding Dianchi for over 30 years

Aerial photo taken on March 20, 2023 shows the salvage team working on the lake. [Xinhua/Photo]

Dianchi, also called Kunming lake, is located southwest of Kunming. Dianchi is China's sixth-largest freshwater lake and Yunnan's biggest lake. It is praised as a pearl on plateau for its beautiful scenery.

There has been a salvage team composed of local women in charge of daily removing trash and weeds from Dianchi and the surrounding rivers and wetlands over the past three decades.

Li Yunli, the team leader, grew up nearby Dianchi. Since 1988, she has led several women in the village to protect Dianchi by getting weeds, water hyacinths, and garbage out of water. With the Dianchi ecological administration strengthened, the water quality of Dianchi continues to improve, reducing the salvage workload.

Over 30 years, the team members have come and gone, but Li is still there. “I will insist on this work and I wich more young people can join us to guard our mother lake,” said Li proudly.

Since 2018, the water quality of Dianchi has remained class IV for five consecutive years. Now, Dianchi has regained its original beauty.

Source: Xinhua; trans-editing by Guo Yao