Upon meeting Deng Jianxin for the first time, you'd never picture him to be a father with a 24-year old son. Thin and tanned, he looks much younger than most people at his age of 48. When asked the secret of keeping young, Deng credits his two favorite hobbies, mountain climbing and wildlife photography.

Deng grew up in a relatively affluent family in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province. Originally taking a job as an administrative assistant at a local middle school in the county, Deng developed an interest in photography and began honing his skills taking portraits. Eventually, his passion would become more than just a hobby.

In 1997, he received a call from a friend working at the nearby Tangjiahe Nature Reserve, who asked him to help to take some publicity shots for the reserve. Established in 1978, the Tangjiahe Nature Reserve spreads across 400 square kilometers of mountainous Qingchuan County. It contains over 300 species unique to the area, including takins, golden monkeys, and of course giant pandas.

Fascinated by the pristine mountain views and diverse wildlife, Deng realized photography was what he wanted to do to for the rest of his life. One year later, he quit his job at the school and accepted a full-time job taking pictures at the reserve. The pay was very humble at that time and he had to buy all of his own equipment using his own savings.

Many of Deng's friends didn't understand why he gave up his comfortable city life to take the rugged, humble-paying job in the mountains. "They thought I was strange," he said. "Maybe city life was just too noisy for me."

On his first assignment, Deng was sent to take pictures of blood pheasants, in order to educate local villagers not to hunt nationally-protected endangered birds. However, Deng was initially unprepared to handle the physical strain of living deep inside the reserve's mountain forests for up to nine days at a time. While on the shoot, he fell and nearly tumbled off a steep cliff, which could have cost him his life.

Deng learned from the experience and spent more time alone and with reserve patrollers in the mountains getting acquainted with the area's wild plants and animals. His persistence paid off, and shortly after, window of opportunity emerged. At that time the region had very little wildlife image data available. Deng spent two years setting up an image database for the reserve. Deng's photographs became the standard for the area's wildlife imagery and many of his works are now on display at the reserve's museum.

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