The family tree

Spring has sprung, a new nature cycle turns and one old man and his beloved old tree grow another year older. Liu Zejun rises at 5 every morning and immediately sets out to check upon his old friend: a pagoda tree standing by his yard at Xiawuge village.

The 79-year-old from Wen'an county, North China's Hebei province, treats the tree like a family member because it has played such an important part in his life.

Through times of war and peace, the tree has seen it all. Not just Liu Zejun's lifetime, it has seen more than 30 generations of the village's history unfold.