Reporting from Baihuashan Nature Reserve, China —
Wang Zhan drives three hours out of Beijing’s smog, past gray-brick towns and yellowed hills to reach a place where he can hear birds.
The Baihuashan National Nature Reserve, a rare sanctuary of pine trees and unobstructed views just west of the capital, is one of China’s more successful attempts to preserve its dwindling natural resources. Signs encourage people to stay on the trails and off the “wild mountains.” Garbage actually lands in the bin.
China has no single agency responsible for managing its overcrowded, haphazard assortment of natural areas, places that are suddenly in demand by a growing middle class looking for refuge from polluted cities.