2021-06-05

Zou Zhuogang, a volunteer with the NGO Green River, is a frequent visitor to the highway that stretches across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in western China. The Green River is dedicated to protecting the Yangtze River headwaters for more than 20 years.

Zou, a retired Shenzhen traffic police officer, is known to the public for carrying mobile traffic lights on his shoulders to help Tibetan antelopes cross the highway during their seasonal migration.

In May 2021, Shenzhen Daily reporters followed Zou on his visit to the plateau. The trip started from the Golmud nature protection station in Golmud City, Qinghai Province and covered five other stops set up by the Green River, along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, to deal with nondegradable garbage that is threatening the safety of the Yangtze River headwaters.

To encourage more people to participate, the NGO started a “coffee for trash” program. The group has also launched a program to protect bar-headed geese along the Tuotuo River.