Today, people no longer contend for land with cranes. Instead, they live in harmony with these magnificent birds in the Dashanbao Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve in Zhaoyang District, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province.

According to the latest available statistics, the number of black-necked cranes wintering at the nature reserve has increased from more than 1,400 last year to a record high of over 1,600 this year. Since the establishment of the nature reserve in Zhaotong in 1990, Dashanbao has gradually become the most important wintering habitat and migration area for black-necked cranes on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

More and more tourists and birdwatchers now visit. In 2010, the nature reserve received 30,000 tourists. Five years later, that number exceeded 120,000. With the development of the region’s tourism sector, people began to contend for land with the cranes.