With its evergreen mountains and breath-taking scenery, Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province is often referred to as the kingdom of plants and animals. Inside the well-protected area, there is a group of people who risk their lives to patrol it.

Getting ready to go on patrol...and preparation is everything...

For Wang Bin and his partner, who've spent many years inside the rainforest, careful preparation is vital.

As they've learned through experience, once you walk deep into the forest, nothing is predictable.

"The most recent incident was at the end of last year, also in this area where we are standing. One of my colleagues was bitten by a poisonous snake. But fortunately he was sent to the hospital immediately and his life was saved," forest guard Wang Bin said.

Wang Bin says usually they patrol in pairs, as it would be too dangerous to patrol alone. Along the patrol route, one thing caught their attention.

“This is part of the remains of wild Asian elephants. It is also part of our work to record things like this. For example, we can tell these feces were left one or two weeks ago, so were the footprints we saw earlier. We'll record what we've found for future scientific use,” Wang Bin said.

Apart from animals, they also check on the plants in the forest. During the patrol, we ran into one resident from a nearby village.

Wang Bin told us many nearby residents come to the forest to pick mushrooms. He often hands out pamphlets to introduce new things to them and gather information from these local residents.

As we walked further into the forest, Wang Bin found something that made him happy.

Wang Bin said they usually boil the plant and eat it with biscuits and buns.

After the simple lunch, Wang Bin and his partner continue their work inside the forest. Before we leave them, Wang tells us he hopes more people will join them in protecting the rainforest and wildlife.

As he said, the road ahead might be bumpy and dangerous, but contribute to making the Earth a better place to live, is very important to him.

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