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CULTURE

CULTURE

Guardians of the plateau

A hit television drama inspired by real-life anti-poaching heroes in Qinghai brings renewed attention to the perilous fight to protect Tibetan antelopes, Xu Fan reports.

By Xu Fan????|????CHINA DAILY????|???? Updated: 2026-03-17 08:48

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A seminar about the drama was held in Beijing on March 11, attended by its creators, including director Li Xue (left) and actor Hu Ge (second right). [Photo provided to China Daily]

For director Li Xue, visiting the former residence of Sonam Dargye in Zhidoi county, Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Qinghai province, felt like a journey through time — a chance to "meet" the revered hero.

Situated at an average altitude of more than 4,500 meters, the county lies near Hoh Xil, China's largest and highest uninhabited region, home to rare wildlife such as Tibetan antelopes and wild yaks. Because of the harsh natural conditions — low temperatures and scarce rainfall — tall trees are rarely seen.

Yet Li was surprised to find a tree nearly three stories high standing in the yard, said to have been planted by Sonam Dargye himself about 40 years ago.

The tree had grown straight through the roof of a greenhouse — a stubborn, tenacious miracle of life reaching toward the sky. Standing there, Li felt overwhelmed, as if time had folded in on itself. It was as though he were standing beside Sonam Dargye, whose story now survives only in written or video records and the memories of local elders.

Later, during the creative process, that moment — etched deep in his mind — gave the director a sudden inspiration: to plant a similar tree in the residence of Zhang Qinqin, a local hospital president whose real-life prototype is Han Mei, Dargye's classmate at their primary school and college.

Serving as a metaphor for inheritance, the tree is woven into a new storyline. In the series, it is cared for by Bai Ju, who gradually develops a student-mentor relationship with Dorje.

Through a lot of preparation, including immersing himself in Zhidoi county for a month and interviewing local experts, Li says he learned a great deal from local residents, insights that helped ground the drama in real details. He has also watched director Peng Hui's 2000 documentary Balance and director Lu Chuan's 2004 film Kekexili: Mountain Patrol many times — two iconic works about China's efforts to battle Tibetan antelope poachers.

All these have inspired the drama. For instance, when venturing into Hoh Xil, patrol teams must bring essentials such as oil and tents by truck, but rarely vegetables, which freeze quickly in the extreme cold and turn bitter.

"The patrol members never carried drinking water. Instead, they fetched water from rivers or collected rainwater that had gathered in holes in the ground. If their vehicle's wheels became stuck in the mud, they would lay quilts under the tires to push it out," recalls Li, adding that even though the quilts became filthy, they still had to wrap themselves in them to keep warm.

Li also learned that poachers would bury Tibetan antelope hides in a designated spot, only revealing the location after negotiating a price with smugglers. Once unearthed, the hides would be smuggled to Nepal or India — hidden inside clothing or mixed in with ordinary sheep wool. It takes the lives of three to five Tibetan antelopes to make a single shahtoosh shawl, which fetches a high price on the international market. This buried-hide detail is also depicted in the drama.

Leading a crew of around 700 members over 180 days of filming across multiple locations in Qinghai province and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Li says he was deeply moved by the warmth and openness of the Tibetan locals.

"Tibetan people have a unique outlook on life and death — they hold all life in reverence, believing that even a blade of grass or a stone possesses a spirit, let alone the Tibetan antelope," he says.

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