A NATURAL TALENT

Liu Lizhu, 50, remembers his experience of shooting photos of oriental reed warblers in 2008. At that time, he rode a bicycle to the marshes where the birds had been recorded mating in spring. It took him some time before he found a marsh where he could hear the sound of the birds, but couldn't see them. Then he went to the spot repeatedly for careful observation, and gradually figured out their behavior.

"When such a bird tries to mate, you can see it walk from the bottom of a weed up to the flower and then you can hear the sound. Based on that pattern, I found a good vantage point, and then waited patiently for the best moments to take pictures," says Liu.

The amateur photographer has devoted himself to shooting photos of birds in his hometown Shahe, Hebei province, as well as plants growing on the Taihang Mountains over the past 15 years. He has published books on the subjects.

In 2007, not long after the graphic design major returned to Shahe city and began to work in local law enforcement after years of doing odd jobs, he started to capture nature with his camera. He found a website about birds, and became interested in taking photos of them.

"Before that, I recorded scenery and people, but later I found that too many people did similar things. When I noticed some people posting beautiful photos of birds online, which was not very popular at that time, I decided to try it as well," says Liu, who didn't expect the decision then would take up most of his free time in the next seven years.

"Instead of focusing on rare or special species of birds, I wanted to record as many as possible common birds that people see in a local area," says Liu.

That's how he started to observe birds in Shahe, checking information online when preparing for filming, before traveling to mountainous areas to look for the birds.

"It's time-consuming. Birds have different habits, which you must factor in, and then you can look for them according to what you have learned," he says.

After seven years, it was hard for him to discover new types of birds in his hometown, so he made a summary of what he has done. He found he had recorded more than 100 types of birds, and then published a book introducing them with his photos. It was welcomed by local people.

Then he shifted his attention to plants on the Taihang Mountains, the range that stretches about 400 kilometers through Hebei, Shanxi and Henan provinces, and Beijing.

Shahe is located in the eastern foothills of Taihang. The environment of his hometown has enabled Liu to have a relationship with nature from childhood.

"I grew up walking on the mountains in search of grass for pigs on my family farm to eat, and noticed many plants. Although I often saw them, I didn't know their names, so I always felt curious about them," says Liu.

He captured the plants he saw with his camera, then searched them in the Plant Photo Bank of China, an online guide developed by the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to identify them. Sometimes he also read books about the plants on the Taihang Mountains, and tried to find them. For example, he read records of Taihangia rupestris, a rare plant that blooms on steep slopes in early spring. Exploring the mountains in the autumn of 2015, he found some "unknown "plants on a cliff, adorned with just their leaves, took photos and remembered the location.

After comparing his photos with those in the plant photo bank, he inferred they might be leaves of Taihangia rupestris. In the next spring, he reached the same spot but was disappointed to find only leaves. In the spring of 2017, he finally saw the flowers he had waited for, identified and took photos of them.

"The blossoming of flowers is influenced by the temperature, so it's uncertain. Sometimes you miss the period and have to wait for another year," says Liu.

It takes him a long time to complete shooting one plant, since he tries to record different parts－flowers, fruits, leaves and stems, which he usually cannot see at one time.

"I may capture the flowers of a plant in spring, and in autumn I remember to go there for its fruits. I just go in different seasons, shoot whatever I can find, and remember to complete the other photos next time," says Liu.

Similar to photographing birds, he says he pays more attention to plants that are often seen in the mountains instead of special types, because "all plants matter".

"It's really interesting, and I find it more appealing as time passes by. Every time you go out and find different plants, you can search the information or consult others for their identities. That's a really good experience. Sometimes when I see pictures of plants unknown to me taken by other people in the local areas, on my WeChat, I cannot help but try to find them by myself, too," says Liu.

He says he tries not to disturb the birds or plants, just works as a "recorder" instead of interfering with their lives.

"I never lure birds with food to take pictures. I wait for their appearance. Whatever they look like in nature, I just record them," says Liu.

Over the years, he has traveled throughout Shahe, and made his way to the north, like Baoding city, Hebei, and Beijing, and south to Henan.

He published another book recording the plants he shot over 2014-18, which introduces nearly 800 types of plants on the Taihang Mountains.

According to writer Yang Xianping, who is also from Shahe, "What Liu has done is meaningful. He shows respect for every simple plant, gives other people a chance to know about the plants on these mountains, and honestly records changes in such plants."

Recalling the past years, Liu says: "Persistence is important. Sometimes when you do something, not for economic benefit but pure love, you will gain a sense of fulfillment when you think about all the things you have gone through."