We have taken too much from nature, but given back too little in return. And this is the cost of the unbalanced growth. If we had taken care of the vegetation in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, we would still experience the river as Li Bai described it.
While the developed countries are consuming proportionally more natural resources than the rest of the world, they've also taken some good measures in protecting nature. And as a developing country, China can learn from them in this aspect.
Last year, when I was visiting Australia with a group of Chinese students who had won prizes in an English Skills Test, our Australian hosts invited us to join them for a horse-ride in the mountains. After two hours on horseback, we reached a valley, where there was a most beautiful meadow, with flowers in all colors dotted on a huge blanket of green. When I began to praise the beauty of nature, my friends told me that in this valley, there used to be a big mine and the wastewater from the mine turned everything brown. When the mine was abandoned, people made great efforts to restore the green vegetation. They also used the latest biological technology choosing the best grass seeds suitable for the local soil. So the beautiful meadow is a result of commitment, hard work, and new technology.
What happened to this valley in Australia should also happen to our Yellow River and, in fact, it is happening. I have seen farmers planting trees on mountains along the Yellow River. I have seen them climb the mountain tops with seedlings on their shoulders because they had no machinery. I have seen them pour on trees the water they had carried up in buckets from miles down the valley. These farmers are quietly nourishing our Yellow River, just as the river has nourished them.
And these farmers, men and women I don't know, gave me the confidence that we and our Yellow River will grow together, and someday in the future, we will be able to drink the clean water from our Yellow River again, because she is our dearest mother.
Thank you.