Workers harvest Ottelia acuminata at a planting base at Yong'an Village of Eryuan County in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Oct. 18, 2024.(Photo by Luo Xincai/Xinhua)Under the summer sun, Erhai Lake in southwest China's Yunnan Province glistens thanks to its clear blue water dotted with floating white blossoms. Tourists stroll and cycle around the spot, where limpid waters, lush mountains and blooming flowers combine in weaving a picturesque scene. The delicate blossom seen floating there is Ottelia acuminata, an aquatic plant endemic to China, which is known to have extremely strict water quality requirements. It demands high water transparency, cleanliness and calcium content, and survives only in unpolluted waters, serving as a reliable natural indicator of aquatic ecological health. Its large-scale revival vividly testifies to Erhai Lake's remarkable ecological restoration achievements. China's Ecological and Environmental Code, enacted on Saturday, stipulates nationwide protection and restoration of river and lake ecosystems, providing solid legal support for systematic water ecological governance across the country. As China advances its Beautiful China initiative, this code is expected to strengthen rule-of-law guarantees for ecological protection and provide fresh impetus for the country's green and low-carbon transition. In the early 1990s, agricultural pollution worsened Erhai Lake's water quality, causing frequent blue-green algae outbreaks. A severe algae bloom hit the lake in 1996, leaving the water turbid and smelly. As the environment degraded, Ottelia acuminata nearly disappeared from the lake. Thanks to years of targeted ecological protection and restoration efforts, the lake's water quality has improved steadily, maintaining an excellent Grade II standard from January to June 2026, and creating favorable conditions for the return of Ottelia acuminata. Official data show that the plant's coverage on Erhai Lake has surged from 90,000 square meters in 2021 to 950,000 square meters in 2026, marking a remarkable ecological recovery. The improved water environment has also brought tangible economic benefits, turning the lake's ecological advantages into a sustainable industry. From lake ecology to farm cultivation and consumer products, Ottelia acuminata's dual ecological and economic value has been fully realized. In 2018, environmental worker Zhong Lan noticed the edible plant's great potential for water purification and industrial development. With support from local authorities and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in eastern China, she started a company and built a professional research base in 2024, developing standardized planting techniques that enable high-yield, repeated harvests and offering jobs for local villagers. Villager Li Xinyuan, who quit Ottelia acuminata cultivation years ago due to low profits, resumed planting in 2023 and earns a stable monthly salary of 4,500 yuan (about 663 U.S. dollars) at the base. His fellow villager Du Hongquan earned over 100,000 yuan last year from growing the plant and has more than doubled his planting area this year. "The base takes full charge of sales, so we can plant without any worries," Du said. Eryuan County, the source of Erhai Lake, now has more than 200 hectares of Ottelia acuminata plantation area, creating numerous jobs yearly. The plant has been developed into a diverse range of products like tea, plant-based coffee and cookies. "I used to think it was exclusive to Yunnan, but I can try it elsewhere too," said a tourist surnamed Ai after tasting the plant at a hotpot restaurant in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. The beautiful lakeside scenery at Erhai has also boosted local tourism. In 2025, Dali received over 120 million tourist visits, attracting visitors to enjoy lake views and experience local Bai ethnic culture, with 407,000 long-term visitors. Last month, the State Council issued a plan for building a Beautiful China during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), setting out the overall requirements, targets, key tasks and major projects for comprehensively advancing this initiative. According to the plan, China will achieve overall improvement in ecological and environmental quality and make significant progress toward building a Beautiful China by 2030, with green production and lifestyles largely established and the carbon peaking target reached on schedule. 。 据悉，以军将以不会违反拜登政府关于拉法红线的方式增加在拉法的行动，在特定地区进行“精准反恐”。 2022年12月，哈马斯加沙地带负责人（二把手）辛瓦尔出席在加沙的一次集会。 如今回头看，这份扑朔迷离、被布林肯称为“十分慷慨”的协议，很可能是埃及、卡塔尔和美国主动搞的，以色列被动应对。 整个谈判过程中哈马斯和以色列代表并未面对面碰撞，而是分别跟埃及、卡塔尔、美国组成的“斡旋方”进行会谈。 之所以出现这样一种情况，还要从各方的诉求说起。 埃及在加沙危机中一直是两难的角色，从宗教大义角度它必须支持巴勒斯坦人，但从现实利益上又担心巴勒斯坦人（以及哈马斯）涌入西奈半岛，因此埃及是真想尽快停火。 卡塔尔是中东“骑墙派”和哈马斯的大金主，连哈马斯领导人哈尼亚都住在卡塔尔，战事越久拖不久，它想继续骑墙就越困难；据《以色列时报》5月4日的报道，卡塔尔迫于美国压力正不得不考虑驱逐哈马斯领导人。 至于说美国，它其实也不希望以色列大举进攻加沙，这倒不是说拜登想放哈马斯一条生路，而是选举在即，不愿意多生是非。 在这种情况下，以色列方面死马当成活马医，接受了以临时停火若干天为条件换取部分剩余人质的提议，但永久停火的条件是绝无可能答应的。 实际上，哈马斯方面已基本同意卡塔尔和埃及提出的加沙临时停火提议，是以色列战时内阁迅速予以回绝，称“哈马斯愿意接受的提案远远不符合以色列的基本要求”。 据知情人士透露，以方否决临时停火协议的关键要素有两点：其一是哈马斯要求将临时停火作为永久停火的“第一阶段”，其二则是承诺释放的33名人质可能是遗体而不是活人——经历过半年的激战后，哈马斯似乎已经“凑不齐”当初绑架的人质。 以军坦克出现在拉法口岸附近。图中左侧的以军坦克头顶“防护网”，这是俄乌战场刚刚兴起的防无人机操作。
