I find myself in an odd little emotional rut where nothing much gets my attention or grabs my interest, just shuffling on from day to day. This will pass, of course, but for the time being, that’s where I’m at. Perhaps our planned trip out to the village this weekend will help wake me up. I’ve been sitting here in southern Chaoyang far too long and I need some fresh air, especially that yet another summertime humid miasma has settled over the city.
But, as is probably clear enough already, anything with the word “延庆” in the title will get my attention, and today in 京报网 I found this article on Yanqing’s wetlands:
退耕还湖还林还草构建塞北生态屏障
Return tilled land to lakes, forests, and grass to establish a northern ecological protective screen
延庆11万亩湿地守护京城
Yanqing’s 110,000 mu of wetlands defend the capital
初夏，美丽的野鸭湖畔，草鹭、白鹭、苍鹭、野鸭钻入草丛、树林，精心地喂养着小鸟，黄鹂在柳间鸣唱，云雀在半空中欢歌。它们在此自由地繁衍生息，奏响了生 命之歌。妫水公园和夏都公园，时有黑鹳在上空盘旋，定居在龙庆峡的它们，常常进城散步，过得逍遥自在。延庆广阔的湿地，为鸟儿提供生存空间。
Early summer, the beautiful banks of Wild Duck Lake, purple herons, egrets, herons, and wild ducks enter the grass, woods, meticulously raising their chicks, the orioles sing in the willows, the larks sing happily in mid-air. They freely multiply here, singing the song of life. Guishui and Xiadu Parks sometimes have black storks circling overhead. Those that settle at Longqingxia often go for a stroll in town, living free and unfettered. Yanqing’s vast wetlands provide living space for the birds.
据延庆县湿地资源调查报告显示，目前，延庆县湿地面积已达11万亩，湿地保护面积已达15万亩，占到全县总面积的二十分之一以上。广阔的湿地净化了大气和 水源，为首都构筑了一道京北生态屏障。从空中俯瞰延庆县城，自妫河流域从东到西，东有金牛湖、中有夏都公园、妫水公园、西有野鸭湖湿地、北有三里河湿地公 园，三大公园两大保护区对延庆县城形成了包围之势，形成京北最大的湿地群落。
According to a report on Yanqing County’s Wetland resources, currently, Yanqing County’s wetlands cover an area of 110,000 mu, and the area of protected wetlands is 150,000 mu, occupying over one twentieth of the county’s area. The vast wetlands purify the atmosphere and water sources, giving the capital a protective ecological screen to its north. A bird’s eye view of the county, moving from the east to the west of the Gui River basin, shows that in the east is Jinniu Lake, in the centre are Xiadu and Guishui Parks, and in the west is Wild Duck Lake wetlands, in the north are Sanli River Wetland Park, with the three big parks and two big reserves encircle the county town and forming the largest wetland community in the north of Beijing.
Trouble is, I’m really tired, and I want to have enough energy to get back out to Yanqing as early as possible tomorrow morning, so I’m not going to translate the whole thing. I might do that when I get back, because it is pretty interesting, but that will have to wait until at least Sunday evening, or perhaps Monday or Tuesday.
