Taking flight with birds for 22 years[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn

"I hope our country can step up efforts to promote ecological conservation and set up more wildlife protection zones, so that we can all be surrounded by green hills and clear rivers. Let’s live equally for all of nature’s beings."-- Nature photographer Gu Xiaojun

Q：How long have you been taking photos in the wild?

A：I’ve been taking photos of wild whooper swans since 1992. From that point, I fell in love with photographing birds. So I’ve been to many protection zones in this country.

Photographer:Gu Xiaojun

Q: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever met?

A: I’ve learned a lot about birds thanks to my long-term dedication to capturing their images. The people around me understand what I’m doing and support me. And I would take every possible opportunity to give lectures on birds. A circumstance of photographing, loving and protecting birds has been established in our local community.

While for the whole country, driven by economic interests and overexploitation, the protection of wildlife in many protection zones is unsatisfactory. I hope our nation can step up efforts to promote ecological conservation and set up more wildlife protection zones, so that we can all be surrounded by green hills and clear rivers. Let’s live equally for all of nature’s beings.

Q: Which work are you most proud of?

A: It’s The Enchanting Immortal Bird(Click here for the photo). Two years ago, I discovered that there is a silver pheasant(nicknamed "immortal bird") in the Gutianshan Natural Reserve in the western Zhejian province, but sadly no experts invited us to go there.

Finally, when the chance came, my friends and I drove nonstop for 29 hours to get there. We crossed creeks and stepped into the woods. After we’d erected zeltbahns and set up our equipment, we hid and waited.

Click here for more photos

At last, when the wild silver pheasant came in sight, we’d taken photos with their total size reaching 30G in just 3 hours — this "immortal bird" had finally been successfully captured with our camera. That night we drank and sang with excitement.

Q: What’s the most regrettable thing for you?

A: During the past 20 years, all my wishes have come true and all things that needed to be done have been done. The only regrettable thing is that my physical strength has been declining as I grow older, and there are still so many places I haven’t been to, such as Ali in Tibet. And I have a plan to shoot the North and South poles within five years.

Q: What advice can you give to those young photographers?

A: I hope more young photographers can join us, as I found there’s a shortage of a reserve force among the young generation. This is related to our employment system as an increasing number of young people are putting less time and effort into this hobby. They couldn’t have foreseen the economic return. And this is also the trend of our social development.

Nineteen pictures provided by Gu Xiaojun in the following pages>>>

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