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auto-first｜chai xiaona from xishuangbanna

“the real journey of discovery lies not in the pursuit of new sights, but in a new perspective.” after finishing the short trip to hefei, the second stop was xishuangbanna, which opened up a new world.

first of all, i would like to thank ford china for the text i recorded today. this is not flattery, it only concerns my inner heart and observation.

everyone has some understanding of the current state of the automobile market and industry. ford is not having an easy time in china, with sales under pressure, slow electrification progress, and a shrinking fuel market. however, there are a few things i want to say about ford.

first, according to the staff of ford china's public relations department, ford has never reduced its csr (corporate social responsibility) budget, no matter whether it has experienced highs or lows. another saying is: "ford cannot be liked by everyone, but it can make those who like us love us more." this is very ford.

the second is the ford models that provide all road services and access during this trip to xishuangbanna, including ford raptor, the new explorer, ranger, ford bronco, ford f-150, etc. almost every model in the fleet can adapt to the local complex, muddy, bumpy, winding and curvy road conditions.

the ford f150 i was riding in was particularly suitable for driving on all kinds of complex road conditions, especially unpaved roads. therefore, the team vehicles are also an important part of the nature conservation projects of car companies.

third, ford’s choice.

we often say that choice is more important than hard work. however, in ford's case, "ford not only made the choice to protect nature and serve local residents, but also continued to work hard."

this is also in line with the most simple essence of corporate social responsibility (csr), that is, while pursuing profits, companies should also take responsibility for consumers, communities and the environment, such as helping to solve social problems (such as poverty and inequality).

so far, after three years of practice, the winning projects of ford's "eco-tourism route award" have brought income and employment to the protected area communities where they are located, and have also fed back to ecological protection work.

second, thank you for the coincidence.

a week ago, i accidentally discovered a video program about an 87-year-old man who has devoted his entire life to yunnan. he is zeng xiaolian, a botanical science painter from the kunming institute of botany, chinese academy of sciences.

under his brush, nature can withstand the most detailed observation. if you have seen mr. zeng xiaolian's various paintings, the words in the world are not enough, lifelike and vivid are obviously just low-level descriptions.

mr. zeng's paintings are interwoven with various interesting and mixed emotions, such as delicacy, wisdom, savage vitality, analytical sincerity, naked passion, etc. in mr. zeng's own words, they have souls.

over the past sixty years, zeng xiaolian has completed thousands of black-and-white ink line drawings for more than fifty books, including the flora of china, and is known as "the first chinese botanical painter."

of course, it is a pity that the wife of mr. zeng xiaolian, ms. zhang zanying, who appeared in the video, sacrificed her dream for this and made zeng xiaolian the master he is today. of course, this involves another social issue about family and women, which i will not elaborate on.

obviously, the places that made zeng xiaolian successful were yunnan and xishuangbanna.

xishuangbanna is located on the northern edge of tropical southeast asia. although it accounts for only 0.2% of china's land area, it is home to 16.0% of the country's vascular plants, 21.7% of its mammals and 36.2% of its birds. it is considered a key area for the conservation of china's terrestrial biodiversity.

this is indeed the case. after landing at gasa airport, i called a taxi to the hotel. the short 6-kilometer journey from the airport to the hotel was just like the world described by zeng xiaojian. along the way, i discovered countless kinds of flowers, countless kinds of trees, and countless kinds of leaves, with a density greater than any other place you have ever walked.

at the same time, the diversity of plants makes you wonder if, as the only species on earth, we are missing something.

later, the answer came.

on the second day in xishuangbanna, i participated in a three-hour, five-kilometer rainforest hike. this route was the "little elephant tour: rainforest and asian elephant conservation themed ecological travel" project, which won the "ford motor environmental award" ecotourism route award in 2023.

i was assigned to group b, led by a local jino man, who was also a hunter in the past. he had a 40-centimeter machete on his waist, which was mainly used to clear paths in the rainforest. we called him mr. bao, which is a literal translation of the jino name.

since the beginning of the team, whenever mr. bao saw a magical tree on the roadside, he would ask us, "do you know what kind of tree this is?"

most of the time, all we can do is shake our heads and say we don’t know.

along the way, mr. bao introduced us to a bunch of trees and plants, including local representative species such as the parashorea chinensis, the shoulder vine, and the giant dragon bamboo, as well as some more common mangoes, jackfruits, passion fruits, and chicken blood vines.

therefore, "do you know this tree?" became his catchphrase along the way.

what’s interesting is that, in addition to using a machete to cut through the bushes and explaining flowers, plants and trees, the biggest difference between bao and us outsiders when it comes to the mountains and rainforests where he lives is his contact with the flowers and trees, the touch, the lingering of his fingers, the touch and contamination of his entire body.

for example, when climbing trees, bao not only hikes in the rainforest as light as a swallow, but even when climbing trees, he climbs up with light jumps.

coincidentally, i read several books recently, two of which were "sand county almanac" and "how to observe a tree". the authors' observations and summaries on nature, biodiversity, and touch with nature are always insightful.

"seeing the swans is far more important than watching tv. witnessing the blooming of the pasqueflowers is a right that cannot be taken away, just like freedom."

"trees, like people, have souls, which can only be seen and felt when you have real contact with them. the three things that are most helpful in enhancing your understanding of trees and improving your aesthetic appreciation of them are contact, contact, and contact again."

“that engagement can be just seeing, but i learn best when i engage with my whole being—touching the trees, hugging them, and even climbing them if possible.”

to coexist with nature, we need to observe and touch it.

after the rainforest hike, we also experienced what the jino villagers do year after year, day after day, such as picking tea, tapping rubber, and weaving.

on the last day in xishuangbanna, i had some time left, so i went to the lancang river, also known as the mekong river, which runs through six countries. the taxi driver said that i could stand on the bridge to see the lancang river, but i said no, i must go to the riverside and touch the water of the lancang river.

at this point, the books read, the videos watched, and the itinerary of this ford eco-tour have finally formed a closed loop.

at the end of the article, there is no need to sublimate. however, i still want to thank ford, the little elephant rainforest protection project, public welfare organizations like zhang xiyan, old men like zeng xiaolian, and the villages of the jino people and the jino people living in them. for all the people who truly live here, what nature has given is more than a gift, it is more like an agreement, or in the popular words now, it is quantum entanglement.

in general, a business needs options that are not related to profits, financial statements, or the law of commercial elimination. as for the human group, we should not take everything given by nature for granted, nor should we turn a blind eye to the gifts of nature.

such a place needs villages and villagers like the jino people living here for a long time. only when they can live more stably and better on this land, the protection of nature and the flora and fauna ecology will be possible.