Ancient pine is like family for watchman in Anhui

After a decade watching over the famous Guest-greeting Pine at Yellow Mountain, Anhui province, Hu Xiaochun feels the tree is as important as a family member.

In 2010, Hu, a 40-year-old from the province's Huangshan city, became the pine's 19th watchman.

"I was discharged from military service in 1998 and employed as a team member of the forest fire protection brigade at the scenic spot in 2005," he said.

The Guest-greeting Pine, which is about 1,000 years old, was so named because one of its branches stretches out like an arm, welcoming visitors in an elegant gesture.

At 10.2 meters high and 2.16 meters in diameter, it is renowned around the globe and has been recognized as a symbol of the nation. It was included on the World Heritage List in 1990.

Hu said that his routine is to check the health of the pine and persuade travelers to keep away to avoid damaging it.

"We pine watchmen have a tradition to record the pine's health -from the growth of pine needles to the condition of its bark－in a diary that was started in the early 1980s when the first pine watchman took the position," he said.

He said that he usually gets up at 6:30 am and starts to patrol before the first travelers arrive.

"The checkup is carried out every two hours during the day," he said.

Hu said that he and the other 21 team members finish patrolling around 11 pm, after which electronic monitoring takes over during the night.

"Once people or wild animals approach the pine, alarms will ring," he said.

Hu said that the routine work requires the ability to bear boredom and loneliness.

"But it's worthwhile," he said. "The Guest-greeting Pine is one of the most important tourist attractions of Yellow Mountain, which lures tens of millions of people to see it. It's our responsibility to take good care of it and give tourists a good impression of Huangshan.

"Being the watchman of the pine also brings me a lot of honor. It's like the elder member of my family, who needs scrupulous care."

Hu said that he fears extreme weather most, not for himself but for the pine. "I remember in 2008 when a snowstorm swept across Anhui province," he said. "We carried bamboo to support the pine while cleaning the snow accumulating on its crown.

"The situation was rather critical as the snow was about 30 centimeters high on the pine's crown. There is no road for the car at the core area of the scenic spot, so we had to walk 7.5 kilometers to carry the bamboo up to the mountain in the snowstorm. We carried more than 280 pieces of bamboo in two days."

He said that he started to help select people to succeed him in 2017.

"I can continue to work as pine watchman till retirement if I wish. Of course, I will," he said.

"But it's really important to have a successor who is responsible and prudent."

The terms for a watchman range from a couple of months to lifelong, depending on the watchman's willingness, he said.

Hu said that he will protect the pine until he is unable to work, and he is really grateful to his family members who give him great support.

"It's been almost four years since I went home to celebrate Spring Festival with my family. Sometimes my little daughter complains about my absence, but her older sister is always on my side," he said, laughing.

The city's government has made great efforts to protect the pine in past decades and set up separate positions for the pine in the 1980s.

Hu said expert teams in the fields of forestry, entomology and mechanics also visit the pine three or four times a month to check its health.