There are more than 200 bison living on Xisha East Island. Photo courtesy of Xisha Garrison

Overlooking Xisha East Island, Chenhang Island, Zhongjian Island, Jinyin Island and other islands and reefs, they are like emeralds inlaid in the blue sea. In these strategic places with harsh natural environments, in addition to the soldiers guarding the islands, there are also precious boobies, bison, turtles, as well as water lilies, sea people trees, wind-resistant tung trees, coconut trees and other animals and plants that accompany the naval officers and soldiers.

On the lush Xisha East Island, there are nearly 100,000 boobies, a national second-level wild protected animal. This place is often attacked by typhoons, and the soldiers took the little boobies whose nests were destroyed back to the barracks in the storm. When the wind and waves are calm, they will help them build nests and send them back to the trees. In addition to boobies, more than 40 species of birds such as frigatebirds, yanming, golden eagles, and white-eyes live on the East Island.

The flat Chenhang Island is an important breeding ground for sea turtles. During the egg-laying season every year, soldiers will mark the turtle egg-laying sites on the beach to remind them to prevent human damage. In recent years, the number of sea turtles laying eggs on Chenhang Island has continued to increase.

Du Bowen, a college student soldier who had just arrived at Treasure Island, did not quite understand the island patrol and forest protection activities organized by the troops after training. "Planting trees is also a form of combat readiness." One year later, this corporal, whose face was already covered with the "Xisha black", began to take the initiative to explain to his new comrades why they should vigorously plant trees. "We used the toughness and large coverage of sisal to build a protective wall around the islands and reefs, which to a certain extent strengthened the outer resistance of the Treasure Island's shores. The widely planted coconut trees are even more of a combat readiness material. Under long-term severe natural weather or wartime blockade conditions, they can maintain basic drinking water for officers and soldiers on the entire island in a short period of time." "Taking the island as home and loving the country and the island are the highest pursuits of Xisha officers and soldiers." He Binggong, an assistant in charge of environmental protection for the Xisha garrison, introduced that for more than 50 years, Xisha officers and soldiers have long integrated the concept of ecological environmental protection into the entire process of guarding and building the islands. They organize an "Island Love Day" every Saturday to clean up floating garbage in the sea in a timely manner, carry out island and reef greening on a regular basis, plant plants such as seahorse grass and coconut trees, and carefully sort and dispose of domestic waste... "Guarding the islands, the sea, and the country means guarding every inch of the motherland's territory and the blue sea and blue sky of the Xisha Islands." He Binggong said.

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In the early morning, standing on the lookout post of Zhongjian Island in the Xisha Islands, the morning glow illuminates the beach, and the huge party flag, national flag, and the eight characters "Long Live the Motherland" and "The Party's Glory Will Always Shine" jump into the eyes. This picture scroll was planted by officers and soldiers using the island's unique plant - seahorse grass.

Seahorse grass is a succulent plant. Its leaves and stems will turn red under the sunlight. It has strong vitality and is resistant to both high temperature and drought. The seahorse grass, which is easy to survive, will root deeply into the soil and has a good water and sand fixation effect.

Unlike Dongdao, where the vegetation coverage rate is more than 95%, Zhongjian Island is all coral sand. The poor soil foundation is not conducive to water storage, and the seedlings need artificial assistance to plant. Early every morning, Wang Lufan, a soldier on Zhongjian Island, carries air-conditioning water to the path not far from the outer wall, and carefully waters the coconut seedlings that were just planted not long ago.

"Many years ago, there was no grass here, and it was difficult for even a blade of grass to survive." Wang Lufan said that in 1982, Xinhua News Agency broadcast a message to the world, "The first coconut tree was planted on Zhongjian Island." It was not until 2002, 20 years later, that the soldiers stationed on the island harvested the first coconut.

The harsh natural environment caused the petals of the plants that tried to "go to the island" to wilt and the branches to break, but it did not stop the soldiers guarding the Xisha Islands from bringing "green" to the island. In order to increase the biodiversity on the island, the soldiers on Zhongjian Island took advantage of opportunities such as visiting relatives and business trips to carry bags of soil and tree seeds from their hometowns, fill the coral sand with soil, plant trees and vegetables. After unremitting efforts, more than 50 species of plants, including coconut, casuarina, masson pine, terminalia, creeper, and seahorse grass, were finally successfully planted on the island.

He Binggong introduced that in recent years, the Xisha Islands have transformed old vegetable greenhouses into nursery cultivation bases, and a total of 12,000 high-quality local seedlings on islands and reefs will be cultivated in 2023. Since March this year, officers and soldiers on various islands have planted more than 2,500 seedlings of coconut trees, sea tobacco trees, wind-resistant tobacco trees, sea people trees and other trees in conjunction with the "Tree Planting Day" activities.

On the white sand beach against the backdrop of the blue sky and blue sea, hundreds of officers and soldiers lined up to dig holes, plant seedlings, bury soil, and water... Not long ago, Zhang Qilai, a cadre of the garrison troops on Chenhang Island, led officers and soldiers on the island to carry out tree planting activities. They organize such activities several times a year. "Although a large number of seedlings die every time, the officers and soldiers have never given up."

Li Jianwei is the oldest soldier on Chenhang Island. He first landed on Chenhang Island in 2006. At that time, the vegetation on the island was sparse, and many places were still bare and white sand. In his spare time, he and his comrades explored planting coconut trees, wind-resistant tung trees, and climbing vines on the sand near the dock.

The Xisha Islands are hot, humid, and sunny, and fresh water resources are extremely scarce, so the survival rate of trees is relatively low. Li Jianwei organized soldiers to collect rainwater and dig wells to get island water for irrigation during the rainy season. He was inspired by the desert drip irrigation technology and tried to use mineral water bottles for drip irrigation, which greatly improved the survival rate of seedlings and plants.

For more than ten years, Li Jianwei has developed thick calluses on his hands and his skin has been tanned in the long-term tree planting work. After the unremitting efforts of the officers and soldiers stationed on the island, the originally exposed sand of Chenhang Island has grown into a forest of Pinus massoniana, papaya, and wind-resistant tung trees, just like an oasis on the sea.

Two

"Quick, quick, a booby seems to be injured!" Not long ago, Du Lei, a cadre of the Dongdao garrison, just opened the door and saw a booby fluttering its wings desperately on the ground. He quickly called his comrades to check the booby together. Fortunately, its wings were only stuck by the secretions of the wind-resistant tung tree seeds. After a simple treatment, the white-bellied booby soared into the sky again.

There are a large number of wind-resistant tung trees planted on Dongdao. Its trunks are thick and its branches are dense. Every time the birds breed, they will attract a large number of boobies to build nests here. Boobies feed on fish and shrimps, and the feces they produce are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements, which provide nutrients for the growth of trees. The two are mutually beneficial. As a result, Dongdao has become the southernmost national nature reserve in the motherland and enjoys the reputation of "bird paradise".

What is amazing is that there are more than 200 bison active on Dongdao. There is a legend that it was left behind when Zheng He passed through Dongdao on his voyage to the West. There is also a saying that in 1909, Li Jun, the admiral of the Guangdong Navy in the Qing Dynasty, used a warship to bring the South China Sea cattle to Dongdao for free-range breeding to declare sovereignty, and it has been left to this day. Some people also say that they may be the descendants of the cattle raised by the Guangdong Guano Company when it developed Dongdao in the 1950s and 1960s.

The soldiers guarding the island regard the boobies as good neighbors who accompany them all year round. Zhang Qiang, a soldier who has served in Dongdao for nearly 10 years, said, "To treat these neighbors, everyone has always adhered to the principle of "three nos", that is, "tens of thousands of bird eggs, none of them can be picked up; tens of thousands of boobies, none of them can be caught; flocks of birds resting in groups, can not be scared even once."

The invasion of alien species occasionally breaks the tranquility here. In May last year, a serious insect pest broke out on Dongdao. A black caterpillar frantically gnawed the leaves of the coastal tung tree. The soldiers used existing insecticides to spray the forest but the effect was not good. In just a few days, these caterpillars devoured all the leaves of the trees around a two-kilometer section of the Ring Road.

Fortunately, experts from the Hainan Institute of Tropical Biology went to the island to take samples urgently and determined that the pest was the larvae of the slash moth. They also brought a new weapon, "biological vectors". The officers and soldiers used drones to deliver targeted pathogens to these larvae. After dozens of days and nights, they eliminated most of the pests and saved this "primeval forest on the sea".

This experience made the officers and soldiers stationed on Dongdao realize the lethality of invasive alien species and the importance of protecting the island ecosystem. In daily life, in order to protect the natural vegetation, animals, and flora of the island, the officers and soldiers stationed on the island strictly implement garbage sorting for domestic and marine garbage, and then coordinate the construction ships and Yongxing Environmental Protection Center to recycle and transport them off the island; domestic sewage will be collected through the pipe network to the sewage treatment station for biodegradation, and the treated reclaimed water can be used for greening irrigation, and the sludge can be used for greening fertilization.

In addition to boobies and bison, sea turtles are also the key protected objects of the officers and soldiers guarding the Xisha Islands. There is a white sand beach on Chenhang Island on the southwest side of Dongdao Island, which is an important area for sea turtles to lay eggs and reproduce. During the egg-laying season from May to September every year, sea turtles will come to the island in large numbers to lay eggs, but in previous years, many young turtles would be eaten by natural enemies before they hatched, or died due to typhoons, and only a small number of young turtles could survive and return to the sea.

Zhang Qilai led the officers and soldiers to read books and consult experts to master the method of accurately predicting the hatching time of sea turtle eggs. They would arrange barbed wire and place eye-catching identification signs on the beach before the eggs were about to hatch to prevent the young turtles from being harmed. Before each major typhoon arrives, they will also carry buckets to "dig pits" and transfer fragile sea turtle eggs one by one.

In 2018, with the assistance of various forces, a sea turtle rescue and protection workstation was established on Chenhang Island. Those turtles that successfully hatch on the beach will be taken care of by local fishermen and then returned to the embrace of the ocean. So far, the military and civilians have worked together to breed more than 1,300 turtles in this way.

After the unremitting popular science explanations of the officers and soldiers stationed on the island, local fishermen also controlled the daily driving position of fishing boats to 3 nautical miles away from the shore, allowing corals, turtles and fish more natural recovery space. One day last year, Zhang Qilai found that there were more tiger shells on the shore while patrolling, and a large number of fish appeared in the shallow sea area, which shuttled and played among the corals. At that moment, Zhang Qilai was filled with emotion: "As long as you are willing to do it and know how to do it, there will naturally be positive feedback."

Three

Every officer and soldier who first arrived on the island would plant a "rooting tree" on the island. This has been a tradition of the Xisha garrison for many years. "Watching it overcome the harsh environment and grow little by little is like watching myself grow up." Ye Peng, a sergeant first class of the Xisha East Island garrison, said that since the island has been connected to the Internet, when the officers and soldiers stationed on the island receive video greetings from retired comrades, many veterans will say with expectation, "Show me, how is my "rooted tree"!"

Ye Peng has been stationed on Dongdao for 15 years. He is proficient in combat readiness duty, planting trees and vegetables, rescuing bison, picking up garbage, etc. "Marine garbage is a major challenge facing the island." Ye Peng said that every Saturday morning, the unit will carry out the "Love Island Day" activity, organizing officers and soldiers to bring garbage bags and clamps to pick up plastic bottles, abandoned fishing nets, food packaging bags and other marine garbage washed ashore on the beach and reefs.

"Every time the cleanup is over, looking at the clean and tidy beach, I feel deeply satisfied in my heart." Ye Peng said.

"Build the islands and reefs as home, and guard the islands as a career" is the sonorous oath of generations of Xisha officers and soldiers. In their view, the beauty of Xisha is concrete. The seawater here is colorful, and there are peaks, gullies, and steep slopes on the seabed. Gray whales, turtles, hawksbill turtles, lobsters, and octopuses live in the seawater; the seabed is rich in oil and "ice" that can be burned.

The suffering of Xisha is also intuitive. Each island is surrounded by the sea, but what is most lacking is fresh water; each island is a piece of land, but what is most lacking is land for growing crops and vegetables; each island has comrades, but these comrades can only be seen every day...

But no one complains about the hardship and tiredness under such difficult conditions. They say, "Building your own "home", how can you be afraid of hard work!"

Zhong Yingqi, a soldier stationed on the Coral Island of Xisha for 6 years, encountered rainy days when he went home on leave. He always subconsciously took a container to collect rainwater for watering vegetables and trees. He only remembered that he was not on the island when he was carrying a bucket.

Cheng Ke, a soldier stationed on Dongdao Island, often felt "very entangled". After staying on the island for a long time, I would miss my parents. But not long after returning home on vacation, I would wonder about the trees, vegetables and animals on the island, "On one side, they raised him, and on the other side, they were "raised by him"".

The families of the officers and soldiers stationed on the island also have a special yearning and love for the Xisha Islands. At the end of 2017, Zhang Qilai's wife visited him on the island. The two were walking on the beach and happened to see a turtle entangled in a fishing net struggling on the shore. They hurriedly untied the net rope embedded in the turtle's neck with the patrol officers and soldiers. His wife helped to hold the turtle's body, and everyone successfully rescued the turtle together.

Afterwards, Zhang Qilai said that his wife had never liked animals very much, but she didn't feel scared that day. What makes Zhang Qilai happy is that his family and children support his work very much. His 5-and-a-half-year-old daughter is already half an "island expert". When visiting relatives on the island, she dares to "eliminate" the coconut heart leaf beetles that harm coconut trees with her bare hands. Other little girls in the kindergarten like pink, but she is the only one who wants blue clothes, because it is the color of the sea and also "Dad's color".

"On the South China Sea with flying clouds and rolling waves, there is a string of pearls shining, the green trees and silver beaches are picturesque, and the vast sea is full of endless treasures..." Zhang Qilai and his comrades like this song "Xisha, My Lovely Hometown" very much, which has influenced generations of soldiers guarding the islands with its beautiful melody.

"Taking the island as home and guarding the end of the world happily are the most prominent characteristics of the soldiers guarding the Xisha Islands." Zhang Qilai said that after guarding the islands for so many years, the words of an old comrade-in-arms expressed the soldiers' sincere love for the Xisha Islands, "When people are on the islands, they should dedicate their love for the motherland and their longing for their hometown to this piece of hot land that can be seen at a glance, and build them into a steel fortress and an oasis on the sea."

China Youth Daily¡¤China Youth Network intern reporter Li Wenhui reporter Wang Peinan correspondent Fang Zhikun Ge Hanqiang Source: China Youth Daily

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