“Our lives have changed so much in recent years,” said Wang Kai, a lumberjack-converted forest ranger in northeast China. “The logging area has transformed into a scenic area, and the once harsh winter landscapes have become treasures. We never imagined such things before.
” Wang is among the workers in state-owned forest companies who have transitioned from logging to a variety of careers following a ban on commercial logging in the state-owned forests of the Khingan Mountains, Heilongjiang Province, 10 years ago. On the forest farm where Wang works, namely the Weixing Forest Farm operated by China Longjiang Forest Industry Group Co., Ltd.
, there are many former employees of the company working as tour guides and service staff, or running hotels. Photo shows a nursery garden of a forestry bureau under China Longjiang Forest Industry Group Co., Ltd.
, based in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) “The ice and snow tourism craze that arose at the beginning of this year has driven a significant increase in tourists. Our fleet of 20 snowmobiles hardly ever had any downtime,” said Cao Jie, a 46-year-old former lumberjack who now runs a snowfield recreational equipment rental shop in the forest farm.
“Our income during peak tourist season is quite good,” Cao noted. Many other forest farms across the province have also witnessed employees’ transformation into various other careers. Yang Zhen, a retired employee of Heilongjiang Yichun fores.