Arborist nurtures Fujian's natural assets

Yu doesn't work alone in the canopy. A chance encounter brought her a partner who shares her passion for the work.

Wu Mina was running a guesthouse on the island of Gulangyu in Xiamen when a chance sighting in 2016 changed his life. He spotted a young woman suspended high in a lemon-scented gum tree, trimming branches with calm precision, while a man on the ground assisted her.

"I was stunned that someone so slight could be up there so safely," the 55-year-old said.

"I thought, if only I could do something that interesting."

The woman in the tree was Yu. She became Wu's teacher in 2021. Since then, Yu has called on him whenever she has tree work.

For Wu, tree work is a discipline built on meticulous safety. "When a climber is aloft, I become her eyes from below. Climbers lose certain angles; they can't always see what is coming," Wu said.

"Every branch cut must be lowered with ropes to control its descent. Make sure it stays clear of buildings, power lines, and any delicate plants."

The safety checks begin long before anyone leaves the ground. "We assess the whole environment. Is the tree hollow? Has it been chewed by insects or animals? Are there beehives, ant nests or power lines running through the crown?" Wu said.

Once a line is set, the team loads it with twice a person's body weight. "If it holds the weight of two people, we can trust it," Yu said.

One rule is absolute: nobody works alone, Yu said. In a profession where anything from weather events to wildlife can turn a routine job into an emergency, the buddy system is not optional.

"Suppose an arborist working on a tree is stung by bees, bitten by a snake, suffers heatstroke or even cuts themselves with a saw and can't get down. The second person has to be able to climb up, reach them and bring them safely to the ground," Wu said.

What keeps Wu climbing, however, is not just the discipline involved but the unpredictability. "Every tree job is different. Even if I climb the same tree twice, the task, the route, the methods can all change. There's so much uncertainty and I approach each one with a fresh perspective," Wu said.

Far from finding it stressful, Wu said this is the source of the work's joy. "If I had to repeat the same thing over and over, like so many jobs, I wouldn't be happy. The challenge, the unknown is what makes it satisfying," Wu said.

lihongyang@chinadaily.com.cn