This 1,000-year-old pine tree’s protector fears changing weather patterns

As temperatures neared their midday peak, Hu Xiaosong was doing his regular patrol, at an altitude of more than 5,500 feet, to protect a 1,000-year-old pine tree that he says is like family to him.

HUANGSHAN, China — As temperatures neared their midday peak, Hu Xiaosong was doing his regular patrol, at an altitude of more than 5,500 feet, to protect a 1,000-year-old pine tree that he says is like family to him.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

This spectacular, oddly shaped pine is the most iconic landmark on China’s Yellow Mountain, or Huangshan, a major tourist site in the eastern Anhui province. Called the Guest-Greeting Pine, or Yingkesong in Mandarin, it is a symbol of hospitality and friendship, miraculously growing out of solid granite rock at the peak of the mountain.

Hu is the tree’s main 19th-generation “bodyguard,” protecting it from severe weather, climate change and overzealous tourists.