Ye Lan has completed his nine-year cycle tour of China promoting environmental protection Wedsnesday at Fuyang, a city in east China's Anhui Province.

In 1993, 19-year-old Ye resigned from his job to set off on his bicycle from his hometown in Huangchuan County in central China's Henan Province.

On arriving at a city, he would contact local middle schools and primary schools to talk about the importance of environmental protection and how to achieve it. More than 800,000 students from 3,000 schools have heard his lectures.

He also collected environmental research data.

The man, dubbed the "green envoy," has set foot in almost every corner of China, except Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

(China Daily September 4, 2002)