Picture this

Though he owns one of the largest bakery chains in China and his photographs have been featured in several major exhibits, Luo Hong prefers that people call him an environmentalist.

The president of the Holiland bakery chain says he relinquished the position of general manager in 2006. "Now I am free, I can do the things I am really interested in, such as photography and green efforts," says Luo.

Luo appointed Xie Li, a 36-year-old former KFC manager who worked for Holiland for nearly 10 years, to be the CEO for daily business.

Luo's photos focus on his love of nature and animals and since 1995 he has traveled around China's remote areas and visited Africa 19 times to shoot millions of pictures.

"I am an environmental photographer, I hope my pictures will inspire more people to pay more attention to the earth we are living on," notes Luo.

Nature addict

The short, lean and tanned middle-aged man was born in Ya'an, located in the mountainous rural area of Sichuan province. He says his love for nature stems from his earliest childhood memories: lush mountains, clean rivers, green trees and a multitude of animals.

Luo declines to discuss how he founded the Holiland brand and expanded it into a national network, but says that since he established the company in 1992, he was immersed in daily business operations for several years, with no chance to connect with nature.

"It was really terrible, I often felt nervous, irritable and frustrated along with the market ups and downs," recalls Luo. "Until one day I went back to my hometown and used my camera to keep the beautiful scenes alive. I felt relaxed, quiet and happy, I know now that I was nature-sick."

From then on, Luo sought opportunities to keep in touch with nature, from rural China to Africa, and Antarctica. "I realized I had to choose between the environment and my business operations in order to avoid juggling my passion and my daily job, when the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) invited me to hold a natural photography exhibition in 2006," he says.

So far, Luo's hobby of photography and his dedication to environmental protection have been supported by his booming bakery business.

Holiland currently boasts over 800 shops in more than 60 cities across China, selling 30 tons of bread and cakes everyday and 200,000 tons of moon cakes annually. Its earnings hit 31.6 billion yuan last year.

Cakes and bread, moon cakes and sweet dumplings currently make up the three Holiland product lines, contributing to over 60 percent, over 20 percent and nearly 10 percent of the bakery giant's total revenue respectively.

Environment fund

In October 2006, Luo pooled 2 million yuan to establish the UNEP Luo Hong Fund and promised to totally invest 10 million yuan for the fund within five years. The fund rewards people making outstanding contributions to global environmental protection and sponsoring green projects.

The fund has initiated six programs. They include UNEP's Chinese language website, protecting flamingos in Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park, training young global leaders engaged in environmental protection, alleviating conflicts between people and elephants in some African nature reserves, addressing environmental issues related to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, as well as the annual Chinese Children's Painting Competition on Environmental Protection.

"I am busy with the children's painting competition right now," says Luo. "It follows a very successful one last year."

Last year's session was the first. With the theme of "What can we do to reduce the Earth's fever?" it received over 200,000 paintings from 1.5 million children around China. The paintings promote energy and resource conservation through efforts such as turning off lights and water taps when not needed and riding bicycles instead of driving cars.

"These paintings reflect a caring culture that sends a message of hope for the future I have been inspired by the creativity, artistry and dedication to protecting the earth that China's children have demonstrated through their paintings," says Achim Steiner, United Nation's vice secretary-general.

Three of children's paintings were ranked as outstanding works, and the painters were invited to attend the UNEP 2008 TUNZA (meaning to treat with care or affection in Kiswahili) International Children's Conference held in Stavanger, Norway. The first prize at the conference went to 17 children, who, accompanied by their parents, went to UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, with Luo and visited the wildlife paradise in Kenya, where Luo also shot photos of giraffes, elephants and flamingos.

This year's theme is "Climate Change: Our Challenge", and began in November and will end on February 20, 2009.

Luo, a millionaire, says almost nothing about Holiland during the interview, while he shows real appreciation for Xie, who he says runs the company well, and makes it a strong backbone for Luo's environmental initiatives.

"Please call me an environmentalist, that's what I am doing now," adds Luo.

(China Daily 12/08/2008 page8)