Royal care for swans

Dongying in Shandong province provides a vital but vulnerable habitat for millions of migratory birds. The local economy has relied on petroleum and related industries, but the city's effort to find a path for sustainable development will be invaluable for the rest of the nation. Zhao Yinan reports.

If Li Jian were Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, the princess would be Xiao Xue (Little Snow). Li, 28, is a poultry feeder at the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, East China's Shandong province. The young man can be easily spotted on the vast wetlands, not because of his deep sun-tanned skin, but the white swan often clumsily tagging along with him. The swan is one of the birds that the young man takes care of, and it has won much of his attention. "When we found her in 2007, she had serious wing injuries and was left behind by a flock of swans on their way to the south," Li says.

Li volunteered to take care of the young swan. Three months later, Xiao Xue had survived, but her wings were permanently damaged and she had little hope of taking to the skies again.