Fifty-four-year old Feng Gang believes his fate is connected with the Asiatic wild asses roaming the barren lands of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The English teacher at the No.6 Middle School of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, has taken numerous photographs of the agile asses and other wildlife in his expeditions to the wilderness.
During one such trip, Feng got lost in the Gobi desert and had to drink his own urine to keep alive. In the end, it was a group of wild asses that saved him.
Knowing Feng would not be far from the asses, his companions followed the animals and eventually found him.
Some of Feng's best pictures are on display at the Science Promotion Hall at Beijing Zoo, where visitors can hear about the explorer's encounters with wild animals.
Sponsored by the Chinese National Committee for Man and Biosphere (MAB), Feng is now holding a photo exhibition until May 13. Magazines with his pictures and stories are also available.
In 1995 Feng spent his savings of over 100,000 yuan (US$12,000) on a jeep and camera equipment. Since then he has devoted all his holidays and vacations to following asses, Tibetan antelopes, black-necked cranes, egrets and many other rare species. Some Chinese experts have dubbed him the frontrunner among photographers of large hoofed animals.
In the summer of 1999, Feng took 28 boards of his pictures to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and several other Chinese cities with the sponsorship of China's MAB Committee.
"I'm asking people to think twice about the possible effects of their behavior on nature and lovely animals," said Feng.
Feng speaks with a strong local accent, but he was born in Shanghai and moved to Xinjiang with his father in 1959.
In 1972, two magazine photographers invited him on a tour of Xinjiang's natural scenery and customs. This introduced him to the lens, which accompanied him ever since.
In the summer of 1995, Feng began his adventure from the Gobi desert at Kalamaili, 350 kilometers north of Urumqi. Covering 17,000 square kilometers, Kalamaili makes up the eastern part of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang.
It was a sunny morning when Feng spotted a group of wild asses. Before they thundered off in a cloud of dust, Feng snatched a clear view of their shining eyes, strong muscles and confidence of the male ass leading the group.
"The first time I saw these animals, my heart missed a beat," Feng recalled.
In July 1998, Feng went to Kalamaili with two friends. Not intending to be very long, Feng took one bottle of water with him and left the camp in the morning to take pictures.
But following groups of wild asses, Feng forgot the time and lost his way. He buried his camera and wrote a will before setting out to look for water, but he was unsuccessful and had to drink his own urine.
At sunset, a large group of wild asses appeared. He used up his entire film.
"If people found me dead holding the camera, they would be thrilled by the pictures I took just before I died," Feng said.
Feng was saved by his companions before it got dark, having wandered in the wilderness for some 14 hours.
"It was the wild asses who guided my friends to find me," he said. "The search for wildlife is my colorful and exciting 'second life.'"
(China Daily 05/05/2001)
