SHANXI, September 7, Xinhua -- The 2018 Youyu Forest Concert series opened at Nanshan Forest Park in Youyu county, Shanxi province, on Sept 5, with more than 3,000 people in attendance. A second and third concert was held the following day.

More than 80 folk music performers took to the stage with various traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu (a two-stringed bowed musical instrument), pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard) and sheng (a reed pipe wind instrument), demonstrating the unique culture and heritage of Shanxi province.

This year saw the concerts showcase music related to the environment, paying tribute to the efforts of local people in turning the barren county into a flourishing oasis.

SHANXI, August 30, China.org.cn -- “It's impossible to support my family on the meager income I get from farming. The land is barren, yielding no more than a few hundred kilos,” said Ju Jianhua, who lives in Shixia Town and is a member of his village's afforestation cooperative. “During slack farming seasons the cooperative organizes us to plant trees. We're all willing, because that way we can earn us as much as 120 yuan a day – double what I get from farming.”

Building Zuoquan's ecology, therefore, is also a way of helping people out of poverty, hence the so-called “a battlefield for two campaigns.” JuWeirong, director of the Forestry Bureau of Zuoquan County explained that the cooperatives have built a platform for farmers' participation. “We have created a mechanism encompassing afforestation projects, cooperatives, and impoverished families – a model that gives consideration to both poverty reduction and ecological construction,” Ju said.

A total of 1,725 people from 626 poverty-stricken households in Zuoquan have joined afforestation cooperatives. Their living standards are improving in tandem with the county's environment.

HEILONGJIANG, August 24 -- Since the implementation of Natural Forest Protection Projects in China 20 years ago, the number of wildlife has increased greatly. In the state-owned forest zone of Greater Khingan Mountains in Heilongjiang Province, the wildlife species increased to 320, among which, there are 9 National Key Protective Wild Animals, and 46 species of National Key Protective Birds.

SHAANXI, August 10, Xinhua -- The administrative region of Yulin City is located to the south of the Maowusu Desert. Environment protection measures have curbed the expansion of the desert and then witnessed the retreat of the desert as a result of the increase in planted forests and grasslands after reducing and stopping farming and animal husbandry.

CHANGCHUN, July 29 -- The promotional activities during the 8^th International Tiger Day were held in Changchun City, Jilin Province of Northeast China on July 29, 2018. The activities were organized by managing authority on Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, for the first time the Authority observing the Day since the establishment of the former.