To most foreigners interested in Chinese history, Jinggang Mountain is the mysterious "holy" land of China's revolution. It was on this mountain that Mao Zedong established China's first countryside revolutionary base and spread the seeds of success of the revolution to the whole nation. While today's Jinggang Mountain is not just "holy" but also "green", it is not only the cradle of Chinese revolution, but also a vast national forest park.

A visitor poses for a photo in Longtan scenery zone of Jinggang Mountain in Jiangxi on June 20, 2009. [CRI]

Feng Shuyi, a visitor from northeast China, answers questions from a CRI reporter at Jinggang Mountain in Jiangxi Province on June 20, 2009. [CRI]

Leaving the hustle and bustle of the city, one's first impression when stepping onto Jinggang Mountain is "harmony" - the harmonious living conditions between animals and plants, human beings and nature.

Now the beautiful mountain is attracting visitors from various places, both inside China and overseas.

"I think Jinggang Mountain is cleaner than many other places. We don't even see any litter around. The tourism environment is very good."

"I feel the mountain and water here are very beautiful, and people here are simple and friendly. There is no heavy industry around, and everything is very natural here."

"There are many animals around here, as well as different kinds of plants. Much original vegetation can be found here. It means the environment is well protected."

Located in the southwestern part of Jiangxi Province, Jinggang Mountain was once a deserted and barren place that was destroyed by war. But after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the government made great efforts to plant trees and protect the environment. In 1981, Jinggang Mountain became a provincial nature reserve, and 19 years later it became a national level nature reserve.

With a current population of 150 thousand and an area of more than 300 square kilometers, the average forest coverage of Jinggang Mountain is 86 percent. In some core scenic spots it is as high as 92 percent.

Plants in Longtan scenery zone in Jinggang Mountain, southwestern Jiangxi Province. [CRI]

Jinggang Mountain Nature Reserve also has more than 30 kinds of precious plant species that are considered significant at the national level. The local government's efforts to protect the ecological environment have won many awards such as "The Educational Base of China's Nature Protection" award and "The Model of National Nature Reserve" award.

All the awards are closely connected to the hard work of the local people on Jinggang Mountain.

Deng Hongmei, a visitor from Guangdong Province, says he is deeply moved by the place's cleanliness.

"I am so touched by the hard-working sanitation workers. My colleagues who came here before us said they saw the cleaners still working around at 10:30 p.m. when they went out shopping at night. It's really very difficult to keep the environment clean since there are really so many people."

While conducting an interview, we saw Guo Lanping, a tea shop owner at the Longtan scenic spot picking up trash. He told us it was everyone's duty to protect the environment.

"As local citizens of Jinggang Mountain, we should make sure the environment is clean and beautiful, so that more visitors would like to come and enjoy. That's definitely true. Let's stand in the visitors' shoes. No visitor would like to visit a dirty place. "

As more people realize the importance of ecological protection, some are voluntarily keeping Jinggang Mountain green and beautiful.

People can rarely see warning signs such as "No smoking!" and "Don't step on the grass." Most of the local people take protecting the environment as their obligation. If they see visitors smoking, they will stop them politely by saying, "Hey friend, smoking is bad for your health. Why don't you choose to enjoy our Jinggang Mountain, the natural oxygen bar, instead of puffing cigarettes?"