Devoted ranger not ready to hang up shoes

Nearing retirement, Li Zhaoma still heads out on patrol regularly to protect Qilian Mountains nature reserve

Over the past 33 years, Li Zhaoma has worn out countless rubber shoes patrolling the forest around the Gucheng nature protection station.

The 59-year-old is a forest ranger at the station in the Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve, an important ecological safety barrier straddling the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai in Northwest China.

With less than one month to go before his retirement, Li has been seizing every opportunity to patrol the forest with other rangers, even though he has been assigned a logistics management position by the station's leadership for his convenience.