Yesterday morning, the "Environmental Protection Mountain Hiking Event," jointly organized by the Consulate General of Korea in Xi'an and the Xi'an Korean Chamber of Commerce, was held in Taipingyu of the Qinling Mountains. Two hundred Korean volunteers, armed with garbage bags, cleaned up paper scraps, beverage bottles, plastic bags, and other litter along the mountain trails in shifts.
Before 8 a.m., the volunteers arrived early at the gathering point. In the ten-mile-long gorge of Taipingyu, the 200 volunteers hiked up the mountain while picking up trash along the way with their garbage bags. It wasn’t long before their bags were filled with quite a few “trophies.”
“Mainly cigarette butts, waste paper, and mineral water bottles,” said Liu Zaixun from Hansong Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. Some of the trash was strewn across the middle of the path, while some was hidden in the grass by the roadside. They planned to pick up trash all the way. Speaking in not-so-fluent Chinese, Liu told reporters that picking up trash in the Qinling Mountains not only served as exercise and helped him make new friends but also protected the environment. “This is our home too. We must protect every mountain and every river, and prevent trash from polluting them.” As he spoke, wearing white gloves, he picked up several cigarette butts from the ground and put them into a red plastic bag.
Kim Jaewon, Consul General of the Consulate General of Korea in Xi'an, said that Koreans also love beautiful mountains and rivers, and such scenic beauty should not be spoiled by trash. With the increasing number of Korean companies in Xi'an, more and more Koreans are living in the city and generating household waste. The activity of cleaning up trash in the Qinling Mountains is a way of fulfilling social responsibility. He hopes to enhance friendship with the people of Xi'an through nature conservation public welfare activities, and that similar events will be organized regularly in the future to protect the local environment with concrete actions.
Yang Zhouheng, General Affairs Officer of the Xi’an Korean Mountain Association, said he has always loved hiking. In the past, he had organized similar public welfare activities on a small scale, but this time, bringing together the government, enterprises, and individuals on such a large scale was a first. He said, “Picking up trash is the responsibility of every volunteer. To maintain the environmental hygiene of the scenic area, the joint effort of all tourists is also needed.”
The sight of volunteers bending down to pick up trash also moved many citizens who came to Taipingyu for leisure over the weekend. When reporters were coming down the mountain, they met the Wang family, who live on Guanghua Road. Mr. Wang said the air and environment here are great, especially the many environmental volunteers who are a beautiful sight in the Qinling Mountains. “This has been a great lesson for my child.” He added that he needs to take even better care of the environment around his own home. Seeing the Korean volunteers picking up trash has also been an inspiration to him—at the very least, he won’t litter when traveling.