ChineseToday | Captain and his ferry of hopes in SW China

ChineseToday | Captain and his ferry of hopes in SW China

(240718) -- CHONGQING, July 18, 2024 Photo by Xinhua/ABACAPRESS.COM) -- Qin Yuanze (L) talks to viewers via livestreaming on "Yu Zhong Ke 2180" ferry in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, July 10, 2024. "Yu Zhong Ke 2180" ferry remains the last "water bus" running between Yangdu and Xishan wharfs in Zhongxian County of Chongqing. Every day at 6: 30 a.m., the ferry departs on time carrying farmers with baskets of farm produce to urban area to start their business. Qin Dayi, the 45-year-old captain of the ferry, has sailed on the river for over a decade. The ferry offers a journey essential to many, though it was once on the verge of vanishing. In 2016, a new expressway reduced the travel time by bus to just 50 minutes, compared to the two-hour boat journey. Most residents switched to bus travel, but many farmers still preferred the boat, which accommodated their bulky baskets and live animals. The fare is also much cheaper. With the decline in passenger numbers, the fleet of ferries dwindled until only

ChineseToday | Captain and his ferry of hopes in SW China

ChineseToday | Captain and his ferry of hopes in SW China

(240718) -- CHONGQING, July 18, 2024 Photo by Xinhua/ABACAPRESS.COM) -- Qin Dayi (L) and his son Qin Yuanze engage in livestreaming before the departure of "Yu Zhong Ke 2180" ferry in Yangdu Township, Zhongxian County of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, July 10, 2024. "Yu Zhong Ke 2180" ferry remains the last "water bus" running between Yangdu and Xishan wharfs in Zhongxian County of Chongqing. Every day at 6: 30 a.m., the ferry departs on time carrying farmers with baskets of farm produce to urban area to start their business. Qin Dayi, the 45-year-old captain of the ferry, has sailed on the river for over a decade. The ferry offers a journey essential to many, though it was once on the verge of vanishing. In 2016, a new expressway reduced the travel time by bus to just 50 minutes, compared to the two-hour boat journey. Most residents switched to bus travel, but many farmers still preferred the boat, which accommodated their bulky baskets and live animals. The fare is also much cheaper. With the dec

ChineseToday | Captain and his ferry of hopes in SW China

ChineseToday | Captain and his ferry of hopes in SW China

(240718) -- CHONGQING, July 18, 2024 Photo by Xinhua/ABACAPRESS.COM) -- Qin Dayi (3rd R) and Qin Yuanze (2nd R) help senior farmers carry their produce in Xishan Wharf in Zhongxian County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, July 11, 2024. "Yu Zhong Ke 2180" ferry remains the last "water bus" running between Yangdu and Xishan wharfs in Zhongxian County of Chongqing. Every day at 6: 30 a.m., the ferry departs on time carrying farmers with baskets of farm produce to urban area to start their business. Qin Dayi, the 45-year-old captain of the ferry, has sailed on the river for over a decade. The ferry offers a journey essential to many, though it was once on the verge of vanishing. In 2016, a new expressway reduced the travel time by bus to just 50 minutes, compared to the two-hour boat journey. Most residents switched to bus travel, but many farmers still preferred the boat, which accommodated their bulky baskets and live animals. The fare is also much cheaper. With the decline in passenger numbers, the f

(SP)SERBIA-BELGRADE-WORLD-ROWING-CHAMPIONSHIP

(SP)SERBIA-BELGRADE-WORLD-ROWING-CHAMPIONSHIP

(230907) -- BELGRADE, Sept. 7, 2023 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhang Yuanze (L) and Dou Xiaowei compete during the men's pair quarterfinal race at the 2023 World Rowing Championship in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 6, 2023. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)

CHINA-HUBEI-WUHAN-YANGTZE FINLESS PORPOISES-PROTECTION (CN)

CHINA-HUBEI-WUHAN-YANGTZE FINLESS PORPOISES-PROTECTION (CN)

(230727) -- WUHAN, July 27, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Tang Bin (L) and Feng Yuanze, members of the cetacean conservation biology group under the Institute of Hydrobiology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), give a B-ultrasound examination to Yangtze finless porpoise Fu Jiu at the Baiji Dolphin House under the CAS Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, July 12, 2023. Three generations of researchers at the Institute of Hydrobiology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have spent decades rescuing and nursing endangered species - the Baiji dolphin and the Yangtze finless porpoise. The latter is dubbed the "smiling angel of the Yangtze River" as its slightly curly lips resemble those of a smiling person. Baiji dolphin Qi Qi passed away in July 2002 after living for more than 22 years at the Baiji Dolphin House under CAS Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan. There was no more Baiji dolphin at the house after Qi Qi's death, but the house and the Wuhan Baiji Conservation Foundation kept their