Xu Xiujuan’s story In October 1964, Xu Xiujuan was born into a crane-raising family in Zhalongtun, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province.

Her father is a crane protection engineer in Zhalong Nature Reserve, and her mother has raised cranes in Zhalong Nature Reserve for 10 years.

Xu Xiujuan often helped her parents feed the baby cranes when she was a child, and she gradually fell in love with the red-crowned cranes.

In 1981, due to the closure of the local middle school and high school, 17-year-old Xu Xiujuan went to Zhalong Nature Reserve to raise cranes with her father, becoming the first girl to raise cranes in my country.

She quickly mastered a complete set of techniques for raising, grazing, breeding, hatching, and brooding of rare birds such as red-crowned cranes, white-naped cranes, and wan-feathered cranes. The survival rate of the young cranes she raised reached 100%.

Her outstanding work was praised by Dr. Archibald, President of the International Crane Foundation.

In March 1985, Xu Xiujuan went to the Wildlife Department of Northeast Forestry University to study at her own expense.

Although the school took her practical difficulties into consideration and exempted her from half of her tuition fees, she still couldn't afford 6 cents a day for food and had been relying on steamed buns and pickles to maintain her intense study every day.

In the second semester, because she could not pay her tuition fees and her life was difficult to sustain, she went behind the back of her teachers and classmates and donated blood several times in exchange for some money to support her studies.

Later, she decided to compress two years of study into one and a half years.

After hard work, 10 of the 11 subjects in the final exam were “excellent” or above 85 points.

During this period, she also taught herself English.

The fact that she donated blood in exchange for money was discovered in a few pages of her diary written in English after her death.

In 1986, Xu Xiujuan went to the Yancheng Nature Reserve in Jiangsu Province, where red-crowned cranes migrate and overwinter, without bringing anything but three crane eggs.

This is a gift Xiujuan brought to Yancheng Nature Reserve. To her, the three crane eggs are three future baby cranes.

During the 5,000-mile journey, Xu Xiujuan used an artificial leather bag, a hot water bottle, half a pound of absorbent cotton, and a thermometer to take care of the three crane eggs.

The eggs are placed in an artificial leather bag. If the temperature and humidity change even slightly, the baby crane will not hatch.

If the water on the train was cut off, she would have to put the crane eggs in her arms because human body temperature is around 37 degrees.

In this way, along the train and the car, the little crane finally broke out of its shell.

The three little cranes were called Longlong, Dandan and Shasha by Xiujuan respectively.

No one knows how much care was given to the three crane eggs Xiujuan; but people know that in the most advanced incubator imported from the United States, crane babies have also died.

After 83 days and nights of careful care, the three little cranes finally spread their wings and flew into the blue sky.

Xu Xiujuan loves these creatures deeply, and cranes have become an inseparable part of her life.

In June 1987, Xu Xiujuan rushed to Yancheng from her home, accompanied by two swans brought from Inner Mongolia.

She called them Dawn and Muren.

When she got off the train, she was greeted by the news of Dandan's death.

This is the crane she feels most distressed about.

Dandan has a problem with one of her legs, and it feels like she's jumping when she walks.

When Xiujuan took it to the wild to catch insects, it became particularly close to Xiujuan.

No one knows how many tears Xiujuan shed in that situation.

Because Liming was sick, Xiujuan nursed it in the dormitory for eight days. Liming recovered, but she fell ill.

Before she recovered from the illness, she experienced another blow.

She never expected that Longlong would vomit blood and die during the injection.

Xiujuan burst into tears and said in her diary: She had never cried like this in front of people. Dandan has gone, Longlong has gone too, poor Shasha turned around and ran away in fear, I can't calm down.

After Li Ming recovered, he and Muren took a bath and played in the Fudui River. The two swans were so happy that they forgot to go home.

Xiujuan searched for them for two days and two nights.

On September 16, people found Xiujuan in the Fudui River.

Her body was curled up, as if she was still feeling guilty for losing the swan, and blaming herself for the deaths of Dandan and Longlong.

On September 18, the white swans Liming and Muren flew back, but they could no longer see Sister Xiujuan who had saved their lives; they saw more than 1,000 people gathered together to hold a ceremony.

That day, there was also a total solar eclipse in the sky.

Xu Xiujuan was only 22 years old when she died.