Xinhuanet Beijing March 12 (Reporter Yang Xiwei)

At the Fifth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress, 36 delegates submitted a proposal, suggesting that the red-crowned crane should be identified as the national bird of China.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency today, NPC deputy He said that she was the leader of the proposal and got the approval of the delegates. He is currently the director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Meris District, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, and a Daur.

He said that the red-crowned crane, with a red crown on its head, long legs, light steps and graceful posture, is also known as the "crane" in China, which is a symbol of good luck, dignity and longevity.

There are about 1500 red-crowned cranes in the world, mainly distributed in East Asia, with China, Japanese, Russian, North Korea and South Korea as the main habitats. Among them, China has the largest population of red-crowned cranes, exceeding 1 1,000.

She said: "There is another reason that prompted me to propose this motion: Zhalong Wetland Reserve in Qiqihar City is the habitat and breeding ground of red-crowned cranes, and designating red-crowned cranes as national birds will surely attract the attention of the whole society and be more conducive to protecting this rare animal."

The main breeding ground of red-crowned cranes in China is Northeast China, and Zhalong Wetland Nature Reserve in Qiqihar is the main base. Overwintering is concentrated in Yancheng, Jiangsu and Poyang Lake, Jiangxi in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. At present, there are more than 350 wild red-crowned cranes in Zhalong Nature Reserve, of which about 60 have been artificially propagated and domesticated.

Deputy He believes that China should determine the national bird as soon as possible. She said that at present, many countries in the world choose iconic birds as national birds to reflect the degree of national civilization.

He said that as a developing country, China is paying more and more attention to protecting the ecological environment as a basic national policy. "Choosing a bird as the national bird will show the world our concrete actions."

At the entrance ceremony of the opening ceremony of the World University Games in Beijing in 200012000, a series of guiding signs painted with national birds (or national representative birds) left an unforgettable impression on people, reflecting the good wishes of our people to love nature, cherish life and care about environmental protection. At present, bird protection has been regarded as one of the symbols to measure a country's scientific and cultural level and social civilization. 1960 12 after the international conference on bird protection was held, there was an upsurge of national bird selection around the world. Many countries have decided their national birds according to the proposal of the congress, such as: English robin, Dutch spoonbill, Estonian sand swallow, Indian blue peacock, Bahamas flamingo, Uganda crowned crane and so on. On stamps called "national business cards", national birds are naturally an indispensable theme.

In fact, the first country in the world to determine the national bird was the United States. As early as 1782, the United States Congress designated the bald eagle as the national bird and made it the main pattern of the national emblem. In this regard, many countries have followed suit and designed the national bird into a national emblem. Especially in some countries where the eagle is the national bird, such as Albania, Indonesia, Bolivia and Libya. Not only is there a national bird on the national emblem, but also a national emblem stamp has been issued, so the national emblem national bird stamp has become a unique system in the national bird stamp.

From the national birds selected by various countries, it is not difficult to find that the reason why a bird tops the list is inseparable from the symbolic meaning determined by its own image and personality factors, and people especially favor those peaceful, auspicious, happy and brave birds. The national bird of Trinidad and Tobago is the smallest bird in the world-the hummingbird. Although hummingbirds are small in size, they are witty and flexible, and dare to fight with big birds. For this small South American country, this is a beautiful symbol. Although there is no national bird in China at present, the voice of selecting national birds in society is getting louder and louder, which can be seen from the attention paid to national birds in the opening ceremony of this Universiade. Moreover, the designer of the tourist guide card took the golden pheasant with red belly as the symbol of the China team, which also inspired us: Golden pheasant with red belly, commonly known as "golden rooster", has been a popular folk cultural theme in China since ancient times, and is called a famous bird in China. During the period of 1979, the postal department of China issued a set of special stamps of "Golden Rooster" (3 stamps), with the faces of "Golden Rooster with Bamboo Stone, Golden Rooster Spreading its Wings and Golden Rooster Foraging" respectively. During the period of 1962- 1997, China issued a set of stamps with the theme of birds. Besides golden roosters, there are rare birds such as red-crowned cranes, swans, white cranes, kites, vultures and storks. Therefore, for a country rich in bird resources, the "candidate birds" of China's national birds are also diverse.