TANG Xiyang likes to describe himself as a walker rather than a writer or pioneer of the environment protection movement in China.

He is like a pilgrim whose destination may be called “Nature? He has been engaged in such long walks for 24 years, starting in 1980. They have taken him to almost every provinces in China, meeting exotic animals and rare plants in their natural settings.

He began walking in foreign countries at the age of 60. At first, he walked alone, but in 1981 he met Marcia Bliss Marks, an American who was working in China, and they began travelling together. Then they fell in love and married.

The days spending with Marcia in search of nature’s wonders are Tang’s most precious memories.

“The two of us, an ordinary Chinese man and an ordinary American woman, kept each other company as we travelled together. It has been three years since Marcia died and I still have the feeling she is with me. It is not sadness or nostalgia that makes me think of her. Rather, I am always imitating her outlook on life and her way of thinking,?said Tang in his book “A Green World Tour?

This work, co-authored with his wife, is regarded as the bible of Chinese environmentalism.

A romance

Tang met Marcia in 1981 on an excursion to Xishuangbanna, a resort in South China’s Yun’nan Province, where he was searching for wild elephants. Marcia, an expert on culture and education, and another environmentalist, was on trip to the same place to investigate birds. Five years later they were married.

Despite the difference in language, cultural background, experience and personality, their love and common interest in nature and environmental protection tied them together.

“Nature brought us together. One thing led to another, and we finally became husband and wife,?said Tang.

They talked in a language that mixed Chinese with English, helped by gestures and pictures.

“That was also an advantage. It made it very difficult for a quarrel to start between us,?said Tang.

“We travelled in different countries and met friends from different countries. Marcia would translate for me,?said Tang.

They also tried to find opportunities to visit national parks and nature reserves in Europe, North America and Asia.

With the help of Marcia, Tang published his first book, “Living Treasures? in New York in 1986.

After theses trips, Tang and Marcia spent three years writing “A Green World Tour?

The book, with versions in both Chinese and English, told vivid stories about nature and its treasures which raised awareness about the living environment and the need to protect it in China.

They lived a very simple but happy life. The money paid by the publisher was used to sponsor the environmental protection movement and help raise the awareness of young people.

In 1996, Tang and Marcia launched the Green Camp for university students.

But Marcia fell prey to the cancer that would ultimately kill her. Her health deteriorated and she was forced to draw on her savings to pay for medical treatment.

Her death coincided with the first Green Camp expedition, an event taken as marking the beginning the Green Movement in China.

“She died suddenly but her influence persists,?said Tang. “In a philosophical and natural sense she has had a lasting influence on me.? Protective efforts

In the journey to Northwest Yunnan to protect snub-nosed monkeys, Tang and his camp members lighted 100 candles at the foot of a mountain endangered by deforestation, both to inspire people’s awareness of the monkeys?plight and to commemorate Marcia.

Since 1996, seven Green Camps have been held, with over 200 members joining the Camp, among a total of over 10,000 members from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

They have been involved in the movement to protect giants pandas, Tibetan antelopes and the wetlands of the Sanjiang Plain.

“The Green Camp is a special school, a crucible for forging new talents to serve the Green Movement and sow the seeds of greenery,?said Tang.

The Green Camp has produced many die-hard environmentalists dedicated to furthering the goals of the Green Movement.

It was Marcia, together with nature, that helped Tang recover from political persecution.

Tang was born in Miluo City, in South China’s Hunan Province, in 1930. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Beijing Normal University in 1952.

Five years later, he was labelled as a youpai (“rightist? and suffered harsh persecution, that continued for the next 20 years.

During this period he was separated from his family. His first wife was beaten to death by red guards.

Solitary fighter

In 1980, Tang regained his freedom and was appointed editor of “Great Nature? a national environmental magazine.

He had been deeply affected by his trials, both physically and mentally, so he turned to nature for relief and comfort. He devoted himself to travelling, writing and publishing.

“I feel free and more comfortable in nature. Sometimes I feel that what I have suffered is nothing compared with what nature has suffered,?said Tang.

He was a solitary fighter for the environment at a time when people’s awareness of the issue was generally very low.

“I wrote articles and took photos to show people how great nature is and how much we should cherish it,?said Tang.

In addition, Tang travelled all over the country to make speeches on environmental protection, an activity that continued until recently, when he felt he could not carry on any further.

“In my early life I experienced great trauma, yet I did not die. I was probably affected mentally, but I was still alive and able to get up and to do something for China’s Green Movement. For this I feel very indebted to Marcia and to nature. They did not tell me what to do, what not to do or how to do something. What I gained from them went beyond that,?he wrote in a pamphlet.

Some people did not understand why he was persevering despite so many difficulties or why he continued travelling to remote areas at such an old age.

“We are being challenged by life,?Tang said. “That is what I told those who did not understand. Without such difficult circumstances we might not felt the pressure that drove us so keenly to exert ourselves.

Tang’s new book, Wrong Wrong Wrong, describes the faults in man’s attitude to nature and why it is important to stop making so many damaging mistakes.