Aerial birds welcome spring in Zhangye

Egrets fly over the lake in Zhangye National Wetland Park in the city of Zhangye, Gansu province on March 2. [Photo/Xinhua]

Visitors can enjoy refreshing air and picturesque scenery by boating through the wetlands. People find tranquility from the mountains reflecting in the reed-filled stream and waterfowl congregating nearby.

The wetlands has made Zhangye city. It has been called "the water town in the Gobi Desert" for centuries. According to local proverbs and folksongs, the city is "half reeds, half towers". And local annals say houses used to perch beside ponds, fountains and weeping willows.

The city now spares no efforts to protect the wetlands in order to conserve water, improve water quality and maintain biodiversity.

Edited by Peter Nordlinger