Garden promotes passion for nature

Teacher works to instill need for ecological protection in students

Over the past eight years, Li Rongfu has received over 13,000 visitors at his botanical garden in Jiaohe city, Jilin province, which also serves as a base for ecological and moral education and social activities for children.

Li, a 60-year-old biology teacher at the Tianbei Township Nine-Year School in Jiaohe, spent his life savings of 800,000 yuan ($110,648) to build the 260-hectare botanical garden in 2016 and to conduct daily maintenance in the ensuing years.

In fact, as early as 2003, he began contributing to China's ecological protection efforts. Since then, he has received several honors, including the National Outstanding Contribution Award for Ecological and Moral Education for Minors, and the Ministry of Education's Advanced Individual Award for Caring for Nature and Bird Protection. He was also named one of the country's "Most Beautiful Ecological and Environmental Volunteers".