Plants and passion restore troubled waters

While China prepares to celebrate the Lunar New Year, one scientist has sacrificed the chance to be with family and friends so he can continue with his life's work, report Liu Kun in Wuhan and Wang Yanfei in Beijing.

With Spring Festival just days away, millions of Chinese people are making the long trek home for the most-important family reunion of the year.

However, Yu Dan won't be among them. Instead, Yu, a professor at the College of Life Sciences at Wuhan University, will remain at his research base on an island in the middle of Liangzi Lake, the second-largest freshwater body in Hubei province.