By Andy
I don’t know if you can tell from any of our other posts, but we’re kind of preoccupied with the fact that we have yet to see a naturally growing forest anywhere we have traveled thus far. Instead, nearly every tree we see is planted next to its brethren of the same species in neat rows, with no undergrowth or wildlife to speak of.
On our way out of Kaifeng, we stopped in a gas station to use the bathroom but were told we would have to go across the street to a lumber market to use theirs instead. We made our way through tall stacks of logs, the smell of freshly cut wood a welcome respite from the burning-tire smell common to the outskirts of so many of the smaller Chinese cities. When Evan and Alexis went to do their business, I was immediately surrounded by LBXes asking the usual series of questions as is prone to happen to whomever is left to watch the bikes.
Finally seeing an opening in the conversation, I asked, “So where do all these trees come from?” I inquired because in addition to the skinny poplar trees we see farmed everywhere, there were large pines in the area where I was standing – not something we’ve seen so far in the “wild.”
“Some come from southern China; others, mostly the pines, are imported from Russia,” the man with the best Mandarin in the group told me.
When Evan returned he asked why they had to import trees from Russia. “We used to get most of our pine from the Northeast (东北) of China, but now China is letting the Northeastern forests return to nature.”
The second part of that statement was a bit laughable based on what we’ve seen in the northeast – planting monoculture plots of poplar trees to be harvested every three years is hardly returning to nature. It was reminiscent of the “China is concerned about the environment now” statement at the coalmine. That is, they now make some bricks and cement out of the waste rock instead of just piling it into a mountain for future generations to deal with – just ignore how much either of those processes affects the environment. But I found the first part rather interesting. (more…)
