The "bird costume" handmade by seniors Photo by Zhang Nan
A striking "bird costume" and exaggerated poses. Yesterday at Xuanwu Lake Park, 68-year-old Cao Lian'an, a silver-haired Nanjing resident, promoted his ideas about green transportation to locals. Admirably, a year ago, Mr. Cao set off on a bicycle from Nanjing, traveled over 10,000 kilometers, and finally returned to Nanjing.
"We're retired seniors—we may not be able to do big things, but we can still ride bicycles," said Cao Lian'an and his three companions, all retirees from a Nanjing enterprise. Their "Green China Tour" cycling charity event had just returned to Nanjing from cities like Tianjin and Jinan on the 24th. According to Cao, the idea came about because they had a lot of free time in retirement, and with environmental pollution becoming severe, they wanted to do something for society. So they gathered fellow retirees and organized the "Green China Tour" cycling campaign to encourage environmental protection.
In Cao’s mountain bike basket, two fluttering flags and a bouquet of flowers stood out. One flag read “Protect the environment, benefit future generations,” and the other “Protect the environment, cherish health.” Cao said these reflect his heartfelt wishes. It's reported that apart from Lhasa and Urumqi, the group has cycled through nearly every province in China. They departed Nanjing on October 29, 2012, and traveled through 15 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions including Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. They returned to Nanjing on February 24, 2013, after nearly four months. Then in late March 2013, they set off again toward Lanzhou, Taiyuan, Shijiazhuang, and Jinan, returning to Nanjing on November 24, 2013.
Cao Lian'an said, "We've traveled through 29 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, covering a total of over 14,000 kilometers. The journey hasn’t been without hardships. The toughest part was riding through Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan—most of the route was mountainous, with low temperatures in the early mornings and evenings. The constant temperature swings gave one of our companions pneumonia. Moreover, when we reached the border area between Guizhou and Chengdu, there were too many hills, so we had to push our bikes. We spent six and a half hours just pushing uphill." Despite the challenges, they felt happy to promote environmentalism in such a low-carbon way.
During the ride, the four seniors also made their own "bird costumes" as team uniforms. "We designed costumes modeled after the yellow warbler, decorated with bright flowers, using this vivid 'birds singing among flowers' imagery to raise awareness about environmental protection." Pointing to his "bird costume," he said, "Birds, like humans, desire fresh air and a world full of birdsong and blossoms. That’s why we wear these 'bird costumes' to call on everyone to protect the environment." (Reported by Correspondent Shao Yi and Reporter Yu Fei)