Basic amenities

When he started working at the reserve in August 1992, Su was assigned to the patrol station at Shengtang Mountain. At the time, the reserve, which was founded in 1982, was a county-level facility, short of funds and facilities.

The station consisted of almost nothing but open ground at an altitude of about 800 meters on the mountain, the highest peak in the Dayao range.

Su and his three colleagues had to build their own bamboo huts, which had no power supply or running water, and they slept on bamboo beds. Su had to walk more than 20 kilometers to the station from his home in the county seat, carrying a backpack that contained enough food to last a week.

"We had to cover our quilts with plastic sheets while we slept to prevent them from becoming soaked by rain or dew," he said.

The rangers were responsible for protecting 4,000 hectares of forest along several trails. It took two or three days to cover the entire area, he recalled.

In 1992, he was paid 75 yuan a month. That became 80 yuan in 1996 or 1997 when he became deputy station head, but the sum rose to 85 yuan when he was promoted to station head.

The reserve was officially upgraded to a national facility in 2000. Gradually, the bamboo huts were replaced by log cabins, and now the rangers are housed in a concrete building.

Meanwhile, the forest trails were upgraded to six patrol routes, and the rangers gradually gained access to electricity, tap water and computers. Now, they also have a cellphone signal, and Su can ride his motorcycle home along a sealed road.

Even though the infrastructure improved every year, the work remained challenging for a long time. "There were various types of difficulties," he said.