The lowest plain in eastern Heilongjiang Province,the Sanjiang(Three-River)Plain embraces China's most concentrated and widely scattered marshlands.The plain came into being as a result of the alluvion of the Songhua,Heilong and Wusuli rivers. It has an elevation of only about 35 to 70 meters. Despite obvious signs of reclamation, its total wetland area is kept at about 1.04 million hectares. The plain is thickly strewn with wetlands of various types which undulate gently, and present richly colored wetland scenery, typical of the marshlands of northern China. The Sanjiang Plain Marshland is blessed with rich biological diversity, as it is home to 291 kinds of vertebrate animals and almost 500 species of higher plants-A number of nature reserves have been established there, among which the Honghe,Xingkai Lake and Sanjiang nature reserves have been put on the "Ramsar List of Wetlands of International lmportance."

This low plain is China's largest fresh-water marshland, popularly known as the "Great Northern Wilderness." Walking through fields or marshes,and seeing oriental white storks,red-crowned cranes and other Fare birds strutting at ease or flying freely between the green land and blue sky. I was often moved to tears by the perfect harmony of life and nature here and from this I could feel the true beauty and tenderness of Mother Earth.

In March,the Sanjiang Plain Marshland is alive with waterfowls. Cranes,oriental white storks and whooper swans make the place their breeding ground, and some 100,000 to 150,000 wild geese and ducks use it as a resting place on their way to the north. Among them, bean geese and swan geese form the majority of the geese,and mallards form the largest group of ducks,followed by pintails,faceted ducks,green wings, common pochards,tufted ducks and common golden eyes.

In summer, the Honghe Nature Reserve is a world of water,with a bewildering number of ponds and rivers. Threading through the reed ponds in a boat. I could see pond lilies everywhere and riverbanks covered with water plants.The water was lucid enough to see the bottom,with fish swimming merrily around and waterfowls chirping away.

In winter,the Sanjiang Plain Marshland puts on a completely different face.In March 2001, a snowstorm raged for two whole days. Braving the storm and with a visibility of less than five meters,I hobbled along toward the wetland on the other side of Dalijia Lake,carrying my camera kit weigh in 915 kilograms.It was a lonely desolated islet covered with thick snow.The stream on the islet was also hidden beneath the snow,except for a narrow chink.Looking at the shrouded bushes.Cotton like snow and the winding river,I tried to find the best perspective for a picture.

Turning around to change the lens,I found my camera box missing. A closer look showed that it was already covered with snow. I trudged through the knee-deep snow as I took pictures,unaware of how far l was walking.When I turned to look back at the way I had come,I found that my footprints had long been covered up by snow. My mobile phone and BP did not work in that area, and l was isolated from the human world. Having no sense of direction, I gritted my teeth and carried on, and after I don't know how long,I stepped onto firm ground on the other side when it was all dark.

NO Commanding Height on the Vast Wetland

On the Sanjiang Plain the green land stretches out to blend with the blue sky, making the ground a huge blanket. I could hardly find a higher point, for whenever I stood on a mass of tussocks, the surrounding area of a dozen square meters or so would sink with me. Scarcely had I got my camera set up and waited for the best light when the ground had sunk lower still. So I very often had to stand in waist-high or knee-high water to take pictures at level of the horizon.

In recent years,I have made a pilgrimage to the Sanjiang Plain Marshland every month. Once I fell into the marsh,and would have drowned if two local herdsmen had not happened to be passing,and pulled me out with a rope.

The Homeward-Bound Chum Salmon

Among all the fish species in the Sanjiang Plain Marshland,chum salmon are the most special.They migrate from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in the Wusuli River in autumn. After their birth, they swim to the Pacific Ocean, staying within the area north of 350 north latitude in the Sea of Ochotsk. In the reproduction season, they return to the Maoniu Estuary of the Wusuli River of their birth. Every year around September 25 is the peak time of their return. Nothing can stop them from making their homeward trip, be it a riptide, dangerous shoal, waterfall or precipice.

The water of the Maoniu Estuary is crystal-clear,and the sandy bottom lies less than one meter below the surface. Thus it is an ideal place for chum salmon to spawn, which they do only once, and then die shortly after,So their bodies can be found all over me riverbed and become nourishment for the waterfowl s before their southbound flight. The fry also eat the dead fish£¬then float with the tide out into the Pacific Ocean.