The reason why he is so happy – his suggestion to protect the peach blossom jellyfish was approved in record time.
"I submitted an urgent suggestion to protect one of the most precious animals in the world, the peach blossom jellyfish. They showed up again in a water area of Kaling River in Beibei district of Chongqing municipality this spring, after a long period of absence."
"The jellyfish are called peach blossom jellyfish because they usually come up to float on the surface of water during the period that the flower blossoms."
"The origin of the fish can be traced back to 50 million years ago, so the fish are also called the grandfather of dinosaurs. Their reappearance is a good sign, indicating that the water quality of Kaling River has improved a lot."
Local citizens often caught these small fish to put in their houses.
Liu Minghua learned of this bad news on the trip to Beijing to attend the annual NPC session.
He was worried about these living fossils. "I know there is little time left to reverse these unhealthy habits. On the plane to Beijing I wrote an urgent suggestion, and the proposal group of Chongqing cut the normal procedure short to send it back to the related region in the middle of the night."
On the second day, two laid-off workers were reemployed to patrol the water
area, protecting the beautiful jellyfish until May when they will sink into the deep water.
Liu Minghua was pleased when he heard this from accompanying reporters.
"This is my happiest event during this NPC session, and my urgent suggestion has been taken up in less than 48 hours' time. I am composing a formal proposal to make a law to protect this lovely creature."
When asked why he, a professor studying Chinese, put forward a proposal to protect the jellyfish, he told the reporter that "I attach much importance to issues on education and ecological balance. So I am concerned about the news of reappearance of the peach blossom jellyfish. It is exciting. But after a few days, news came that many people were catching them. I think I should stand up immediately to protect them. "
(CRI March 10, 2004)
