From polluted to prosperous, a community shows the way

Long Tingyou, 63, is happy to see the Qingxi River cleaned up as part of a local effort to develop ecological tourism.

The 23-kilometer Qingxi flows through Minqiang village in the Naxi district of Luzhou, Sichuan province, and empties into the nearby Yangtze River.

It's tied to many of Long's childhood memories: He used to catch fish and shrimp in it. Back then, the Chinese sucker - now a national Class 2 protected species - was commonly seen, he said.