As the chilly spring breeze lightly brushed their cheeks, a father and his son stood on the deck of a boat on the Yangtze River, known as a "mother river" of the Chinese nation. This is just another ordinary workday for them.

For 17 years, Zhang Pinghe, the 58-year-old father, has dedicated himself to collecting shipping waste along the Tongling section of the Yangtze River.

"See how clean the water is now. After years of waste collection, we seldom see rubbish on the surface of the river," Zhang says.

Prior to this job, Zhang had worked in other occupations. However, he was laid off in 2006 due to enterprise restructuring.

"My ancestors have been fishermen for generations, and the Yangtze River has nurtured us," Zhang says. He recalls playing by the Yangtze River when he was a child. However, oil and garbage gradually polluted the clear and pristine water in the river.

Zhang then chose to start a water pollution prevention and control business. Two years ago, Zhang's son, Zhang Zhongya, also joined the effort to protect the vital waterway.

Every day at 7 am, they set sail to collect garbage, waste oil and sewage left by the boats on the Yangtze River.

With more and more boat owners voluntarily calling the Zhang family to handle the waste on their vessels, Zhang Pinghe says that he really feels that public awareness of environmental protection is increasing, and he has seen the river become clearer over the years.

To effectively protect the country's two "mother rivers" — the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, China has written into law specific legislation for their protection.

Over the years, strenuous efforts have been made to promote better protection of the rivers and enhance public awareness of water protection across the country in various forms, including constructing cultural parks and strengthening environmental education.

In 2021, a 10-year fishing ban took effect in a pivotal area of the Yangtze River in a bid to restore its biodiversity. Many former fishermen have thus taken on new roles.

Holding a hand net, Xiao Lyuying, a 77-year-old former fisherman, along with his fishing buddies, steers a patrol boat on the Yangtze River collecting garbage instead of fish. With no fishing boats or fishermen in sight, they can sometimes see the fish break the surface of the water.

Growing up in a township along the Yangtze River in Tongling city, East China's Anhui province, Xiao had been fishing with his father on the river since he was a teenager.

After the fishing resources dwindled, Xiao had to quit fishing and opened a shop. However, after seeing the garbage floating in the river a few years later, Xiao decided to gather a group of fishermen to voluntarily collect waste from the water.

Xiao says that there are now even more fish in the Yangtze River, and the chance of seeing finless porpoises, a barometer of the ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin, is also increasing.

"Our family protects the Yangtze River for our livelihood, but that is not the only reason we do it," Zhang Pinghe says, adding that he wants to do his bit for future generations.