Its white feathers carried a soft pink sheen, its slender neck formed a gentle curve, and when it spread its wings, it looked like a dancer in the sky. Artist Yanzi recalled her first encounter with the crested ibis.

She shared this memory at the launch ceremony of her book, Nirvana and Rebirth — A Documentary Oil Painting Series on the Conservation of the Crested Ibis, at the recent Beijing Book Fair, which closed on Jan 10.

Born in Chongqing, Yanzi, an oil painter of Chinese and Russian heritage, spent her childhood in Russia.

She says her earliest impression of this beautiful bird came not from nature, but from a church mural in Russia, which her grandfather pointed out, calling it the "bird of paradise".

But it was in 2009 during a sketching trip in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, that she unexpectedly encountered this "Oriental Jewel", seeing a living crested ibis for the first time in her life.

She later heard that, in 1981, there were only seven crested ibises left in the world, struggling to survive in the forests of Yaojiagou in Yangxian county, Shaanxi province. Their habitat covered less than 5 square kilometers, and their fragile existence was threatened by disease, predators and environmental destruction.

"From that moment on, I decided I was no longer just an observer," she says.

She joined forestry workers as they ventured deep into the heart of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi province, keeping watch by the huts in Yaojiagou and recording observations outside the breeding center's enclosures.

Over the years, she captured more than 1,690 precious photographs, documenting the protectors' efforts as they wrapped tree trunks with butter to prevent snake damage, traveled to Germany to learn breeding techniques, and mobilized local farmers to help protect feeding grounds.