'Miracle on the plateau'

Editor's Note: 

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has stressed that the environment concerns the well-being of people in all countries. During his inspections, Xi has always paid great attention to ecosystems, spanning from cities to rural areas, and from enterprises to communities.

Under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization, China has been advancing the green transition of its economy over the last decade. Regions across the country are actively promoting the construction of ecological civilization and advancing Chinese modernization featuring harmony between humanity and nature. These efforts are creating a "Beautiful China."

The coming five years will be critical to the building of a "Beautiful China." The Global Times is launching a series of stories to explore the progress of ecological civilization projects that Xi is concerned with, delving into the positive environmental changes occurring now, and offering valuable insights and references for both national and global efforts. From these practical examples, we can see how Xi's thought on ecological civilization is put into practice and further inspires public action.

In this installment, we turn our focus to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, where under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, generations of herders, scientists and conservationists have joined to protect one of the region's most elusive species - the snow leopard.

Ling Xiaomang, a rescued snow leopard, interacts with visitors in Xining Wildlife Zoo in October 2025. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The early-autumn sun cast golden light across the grass, where glimmers danced on silver-gray fur. With a sudden leap, Ling Xiaozhe pounced toward visitors behind the glass, drawing bursts of laughter.

Few could imagine that six months earlier the same animal was a critically ill cub clinging to life in the Hoh Xil, a high-altitude no-man's land on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau that is home to many wild animals.

From near death to new life, its rescue crossed snow lines and time, linking the protection efforts of plateau herders, the dedication of scientific teams and the strength of institutional support. It also brought the concept of "ecological prioritization" from policy language to a living story.

In spring this year, the rescue of Ling Xiaozhe and companion Ling Xiaomang in Xining, capital city of Northwest China's Qinghai Province drew national attention. Related topics on online platforms garnered hundreds of millions of views and were hailed as a "miracle on the plateau."

It was the first time that many truly grasped the meaning of ecological civilization in practice, and this rescue also offered the world a direct look at China's determination to protect biodiversity.

In an inspection tour to Qinghai in 2016, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese President, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed that Qinghai Province's most invaluable treasure, overarching responsibility, and greatest potential are ecological resources, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During his visit in 2021 in Qinghai, Xi said that the conservation of the source of three major rivers should be the utmost priority, according to Xinhua.

In 2024, also during an inspection tour in Qinghai, Xi said the province must earnestly implement the law on ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and carry out major projects for preserving and restoring key ecosystems.

These directives now show up on the ground in Sanjiangyuan National Park: grasslands are turning green 10-20 days earlier than before, lake areas have expanded by 11.5 percent, and the number of snow leopards has surpassed 1,200. All vividly illustrate ecological-civilization progress in the new era.

On this source-plateau of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, the commitment to protecting nature has never wavered - from Sonam Dargye, who gave his life to protect Tibetan antelopes, to generations of ecological rangers, scientists and ordinary herders. The story of rescuing Ling Xiaozhe is a lens on how the region turns ecological value, responsibility and potential into results.

Relay of life

In March, icy winds still gripped the Hoh Xil. As usual, ranger Adro Drakpa Dorje was patrolling the highlands of Sokya Township in Zhidoi county of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

The ground beneath him was dry and strewn with stone. From the base of the mountain, his home was already in sight - but something caught his eye: a faint gray shadow among the rocks and sands.

He brushed away the frost - it was a small snow leopard, soaked and frozen stiff, body curled tight. Only its eyes still moved, barely. "When I got close, it didn't try to flee - it just followed me with its eyes," the 42-year-old Tibetan herdsmen told the Global Times.

He hurried home and sent photos and the location to the township government via WeChat. That night, a rescue convoy set off, braving wind and snow, crossing the snow line, and after a 15-hour drive, delivered the cub to Xining, 1,000 kilometers away.

Qi Xinchang, deputy director of the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center, still vividly remembers the moment. "It was around 2 am when it arrived. The cub was paralyzed, its body temperature had plummeted - it was like a rain-soaked rag. But it could still swallow and struggled slightly. That's when we knew it wanted to live."

With oxygen, fluids and nerve-stimulating therapy, the cub lifted its head by the third day, stretched its paw by the ninth, and attempted walking after 40 days.

Qi and his colleagues named it "Ling Xiaozhe" - the rescue took place just before Jingzhe, or the "Awakening of Insects," a solar term marking spring's arrival.

"We found signs of healed fractures in its body, suggesting it had survived in the wild for at least three weeks," Qi said. Rescuers believe the injuries came from a fall.

Most striking was food residue in the intestines - proof it had eaten even after losing mobility. "The only explanation is that its mother didn't give up on it. Even if she herself was wounded and dying, she still carried food back to feed it."

"We often think of wild animals as cold and rational. But this time, we saw that their emotions run deeper than we imagined," He added.

Ling Xiaozhe was kept in the animal ICU for three days before he could lift his head; nine days after rescue, he climbed out of his nest box on his own, and by March 30, he managed to stand up for the first time - gradually regaining the ability to walk and jump by mid-April. By July 15, after receiving his final vaccine, "there was nothing more we could do," Qi said.

Six months after rescue, Ling Xiaozhe has grown from less than 10 to 20 kilograms, with sleek fur and a bold temperament. Alongside fellow rescue cub, "Ling Xiaomang," it has become a star in the "snow leopard capital."

Guardians of the plateau

In Sokya Township, portraits of Sonam Dargye hang in herders' homes. To locals, he is a hero.

Born in Sokya Township, Sonam Dargye proposed the principle of "balancing protection and development" in 1988. In 1992, he helped establish the Western Working Committee in Zhidoi County and served as its Party secretary, organizing China's first armed anti-poaching team and launching the campaign to protect Hoh Xil.

In 1994, during one such anti-poaching operation, he was shot and killed by poachers at the age of just 32. He gave his life to protect the Tibetan antelope and laid a spiritual foundation for ecological preservation on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

Three decades on, that conviction endures, and herders are carrying his mission forward in new ways.

Changpa from Yaqu village of Sokya is one of the local ecological rangers. After university, he chose to return to his hometown and patrol the highlands, where the average altitude exceeds 4,500 meters.

"Ecological protection is not a slogan - it's a profession," he told the Global Times. "We record each patrol on a mobile app, and the photos we upload are automatically geotagged. My father was a ranger too. He couldn't read, but he knew the mountains better than anyone. What I'm doing now is continuing his work with the knowledge I've gained."

Karwang Dorje, deputy Party chief of Suojia Township, said the ranger system keeps improving. The township now has over 2039 ecological rangers.

Adro Drakpa Dorje patrols the mountains of Sokya Township in Zhidoi county of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai in October 2025. Photo: Li Hao/GT

"The biggest change is that herders have transformed from being 'protected' to becoming the main protectors," he told the Global Times. "In the past, we relied on grazing, and income was unstable. Now, thanks to ecological protection, we have both policy support and social respect," Karwang Dorje said.

In recent years, Sanjiangyuan has built a three-tier patrol network consisting of township-level ranger stations, village-level patrol teams and sub-teams. This has enabled organized, grid-based management of natural elements such as mountains, rivers, forests, grasslands, lakes, glaciers and deserts.

The park now employs 17,000 ecological rangers for monitoring, patrols, wildlife protection and education, according to a statement from the administration bureau of the Sanjiangyuan National Park to the Global Times.

From rescue to resonance

From the highlands to the city to the internet, Ling Xiaozhe's story sparked a wave of resonance. After the rescue went public, views quickly surged into the tens of millions. Netizens hailed the cub as a "miracle on the plateau," touched by its resilience and drawn to the ecological protection system behind it.

Every day, Hani visits the snow leopard enclosure at the Xining Wildlife Park, camera in hand, to document the lives of Ling Xiaozhe or Ling Xiaomang. The two cubs would, taking turns, run on the grass, tumble and play, and sometimes sprawl in front of the glass, tapping their paws against the lens. "They already recognize me," Hani told the Global Times.

After seeing the story of two snow leopards' rescue on social platform, Hani was deeply touched and stayed in Xining to document the cubs. Nearly every day, she shares new photo sets online. "I hope people see more than just precious animals," she told the Global Times. "I want them to understand that we are truly protecting them."

From the start, Qi, also a wildlife science influencer, decided to share the entire rescue journey of the two snow leopards. On Douyin, footage has meticulously documented every stage - from keepers cleaning the enclosures and veterinarians feeding and examining the cubs, to the moments they stretched their paws, rolled on the ground and stood on their own.

"The risks of publicizing the footage are a price we can afford," he said. Qi has believes that "only through understanding comes care; only with care comes action; only with action comes hope." Public communication, he argues, is essential to move wildlife protection from a specialist task to a broader social consensus.

The rescue wasn't luck - it was years of experience, effort and institutional progress.

Today, behind closed gates at Xining Wildlife Park sits the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center - home to dozens of rescued native species, from Tibetan foxes to desert cats.

Since 2010, the center has rescued over 2,400 wild animals across more than 60 species, about 700 have been released back into the wild, according to Qi.

The center leads on protocols for rescuing large carnivores and has performed China's first MRI, CT scan and cataract surgery on a snow leopard. It is also standardizing rescue procedures for rare plateau species.

Adro still climbs the slope behind his house. The snow that once held the leopard's fading imprint gave way to spring grass, now yellow with autumn. "I often think of Ling Xiaozhe," he said, "The snow leopard is a symbol of purity. It only appears where there is no pollution. Protecting it is protecting our homeland."