Tian Manchao, a photographer in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, has always had a profound connection to the Yellow River, which irrigates 59 percent of the region's cultivated land and brings water resources accounting for 90 percent of Ningxia's total.

Recently, Tian shot nearly 5,000 aerial high-resolution photos of the river, covering all its sections in Ningxia within six days.

"The color of the river is all green in its Ningxia part," said Tian, an employee of the Yinchuan power supply company of State Grid. "I've photographed the river for more than a decade. The river has become clearer, and the green area has extended greatly."

This progress over the years demonstrates Ningxia's determination and achievements in protecting the Yellow River, which is dubbed China's mother river along with the Yangtze.

Among the nine provinces and autonomous regions along the Yellow River, Ningxia has taken the lead in implementing a fishing ban to conserve aquatic biological resources and restore the aquatic ecology of the Yellow River basin.

Its yellow sediment intake in Ningxia has decreased from 100 million tons at its peak to 20 million tons now.

Feng Xiaoyun contributed to this story.