STORY: Volunteers contribute to swan protection efforts in NW China's Xinjiang
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 28, 2023
DATELINE: Dec. 2, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:46
LOCATION: URUMQI, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of swans
2. various of volunteers
3. various of Swan Bay of Kaidu River
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): GE YUJIE, Head of local volunteer service team for wildlife protection
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHAO ZHIYA, Local resident, volunteer

STORYLINE:

More and more people are making their contributions to protecting swans and other wild birds in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Swan Bay of Kaidu River is home to a variety of migratory birds, thanks to the efforts to protect the local ecosystem.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): GE YUJIE, Head of local volunteer service team for wildlife protection
"I was very surprised to find six swans here in the winter of 2013. Later, we quickly set up a wildlife protection volunteer service team. The number of people in our team has grown from just a few in the beginning to over 80 people now. Every winter, when the swans fly over here, we organize our team members to carry out works including patrolling, feeding, public education and cleaning. The environment is good here, with a lot of trees. So the swans like to spend the winter here. Through our efforts, the number of swans here has been increasing year by year, reaching 400 at most."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHAO ZHIYA, Local resident, volunteer
"We carry out volunteer activities here on weekends, picking up garbage to protect the environment. At present, Swan Bay has become a tourism hotspot, attracting much attention online. We also bring our children here on weekends to watch swans."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Urumqi, China.
(XHTV)