Mountain guardian cleans up the climb

The ReBird Crew

Until 2023, A Qingbu's cleanup campaign was entirely voluntary, funded by his own income and donations from his customers. In 2023, however, a significant opportunity arose when Arc'teryx, a Canadian outdoor apparel and equipment company, discovered his efforts.

The company had launched a limited-edition collection named after Kawagebo and held an event in Shangri-La, a city four hours from Dechen.

Arc'teryx decided to sponsor A Qingbu's cleanup campaign, turning it into his fulltime occupation. The company provided him with eight mules, built a shed for them and supplied feed.

It also purchased trash bins for each of his cleanup projects, providing 250 for the recent campaign. It named A Qingbu's team the ReBird Crew, providing them with Gore-Tex jackets as uniforms.

"The jackets belong to the team," A Qingbu said. "After a campaign, they can be returned to the company for maintenance and provided to our participants in the next cleanup."

According to A Qingbu, mules are more resilient than horses in the mountains, making them better suited for the project.

Initially, he considered using large plastic bins like those in cities, but they proved impractical. "A single mule could carry only four on its back," he said. "So we opted for iron-framed baskets — smaller, lighter and easier to transport."

With funding from Arc'teryx, A Qingbu could pay his crew members 150 to 200 yuan per day. However, he described it as a symbolic wage. "If we hired outsiders, we'd have to pay 300 or 400 yuan a day, and even then, they might not come because of the hard work at high altitude. But our crew members are committed. We work to protect our sacred mountains, so the wage is more like a subsidy."

A Qingbu carefully selected his team members, often choosing from nearby villages. "I chose members from families facing economic difficulties, those with children in school or elderly parents to care for," he said. "I wanted people who would value the work opportunity."

The work is grueling, with garbage often exposed to the elements for months or years, leading to rot and unpleasant odors. Although few crew members suffered from high-altitude sickness, some experienced symptoms like vomiting, nausea, headaches and stomach pain. A Qingbu typically spends 2,000 to 3,000 yuan on medicine for each campaign, including anti-nausea drugs, cold medicine, painkillers and diarrhea medication.

The results achieved by A Qingbu and his team have been remarkable over the past three years, with each campaign transporting an average of 4 to 5 metric tons of garbage from the Meili Snow Mountains to a county garbage treatment plant.