In early spring in Dali, Yunnan, the spring water is rippling and everything is full of energy. In the fields of Gusheng Village, Wanqiao Town, villager He Licheng carefully checked the seedlings. The new season of plateau soft fragrance rice "Less fragrance in Erhai Lake" breaks out of the ground and is full of vitality under the warm sun.

Gusheng Village, a traditional Bai ethnic village on the Erhai Lake (photo by Zhao Yu, China Radio and Television)

Erhai Lake is the second largest plateau tassue lake in Yunnan. He Licheng's family has lived by Erhai Lake for generations. When he was young, he fished with his father, witnessed the abundant water in Erhai Lake and experienced the pain caused by the deterioration of the ecology in the lake area. "In 1996, a lake-like cyanobacteria broke out in Erhai Lake. At that time, we were on the edge of Erhai Lake and our hearts were very painful," He Licheng recalled.

The people of Dali learned from their mistakes and made up their minds to protect the "Mother Lake" Erhai Lake. He Licheng and his fellow villagers actively responded to the government's actions and withdrew from fishing and raising fish in Erhai Lake.

"Be here to keep a photo, come again in a few years, and hope that the water will be cleaner and clearer." In January 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected the management of Erhai Lake on the rippling waves of Erhai Lake. He instructed local cadres and the masses to protect Erhai Lake and let the natural beauty of "Cangshan Mountain is not ink for thousands of years, and Erhai Lake has no strings and qiuqin" stay in the world forever.

Beware of Erhai Lake, Dali will take multiple measures and implement systematic measures. In order to reduce agricultural non-point source pollution, in 2022, the Dali Prefecture Government, China Agricultural University and Yunnan Agricultural University, established the Erhai River Basin Agricultural Green Development Research Institute to explore high-value agricultural models for environmental protection.

He Licheng took the initiative to take out the land as a test field and participated in the study of the impact of the application of different fertilizers on crops and soil, providing scientific data for the prevention and control of surface source pollution in the Erhai Lake Basin. "Now, our 'Erhai Lake fragrance' is grown throughout the whole process, and the market price is much higher than that of ordinary rice." He Licheng said.

He Licheng (second from left) exchanged green planting technology with teachers and students of the Science and Technology College (China Radio and Television Network) Photo provided by Dali Erhai Science and Technology Courtyard)

"At present, the institute has innovated green high-value planting models such as 'rice-oil', 'smoke-oil', 'anniversary rapeseed' to achieve win-win results for agricultural production and high-yield agricultural products. In 2024, all townships in the Erhai River Basin will basically achieve full coverage of green ecological planting of rice." Zhao Zhengxiong, executive vice president of the Erhai River Basin Agricultural Green Development Institute, introduced.

"Remembering the earnest instructions of the General Secretary, over the past ten years, Dali has insisted on scientific management of lakes, systematic management of lakes, law-based management of lakes, and the whole people have made coordinated efforts to make Erhai Lake protection from the 'governance of one lake' to 'governance of river basin' and 'ecological governance', and promote harmonious coexistence between man and nature." Zhao Guolong, director of the Erhai Administration Bureau of Dali Prefecture, said.

Now, the muddy paths on the banks of Gusheng Village have turned into green ecological landscape belts. Reeds and calamus sway in the wind, the lake water is clear and the water birds are flying, and Erhai Lake has regained its past beauty.

Ecological corridors on the banks of Erhai Lake (photo taken by Wei Wenqing, reporter of China Radio International)

The transformation of Erhai Lake has brought new development vitality to the local area. Zhao Caihong, a villager in Gusheng Village, transformed his Bai courtyard into an inn. Every room can see Erhai Lake, attracting tourists. "The water in Erhai Lake is clear and the village is beautiful. With good scenery, life is more exciting." Zhao Caihong said.

The Erhai Lake is clear and Dali is prosperous. In 2024, Dali Prefecture received a total of more than 100 million tourists for the first time. During the just-passed 2025 Spring Festival holiday, the Erhai Ecological Corridor received more than one million tourists. Today, Cangshan and Erhai Lake have become a tourist destination that domestic and foreign tourists yearn for, and green waters and green mountains are constantly transforming into Dali's "gold and silver mountains".

Producer: Luo Hongbing

General Planning: Zhang Jun Yu Feng

Producer: Wu Gang Gong Xinhui

Coordinator: Tao Yude

Planning: Wei Wenqing

Video: Zhao Beibei Wei Wenqing Yang Lei

Voice: Liu Yuntao

Creation: Dali Prefecture Party Committee Propaganda Department Dali Prefecture Party Committee Network Information Office