A natural talent

Although she was only in her early teens, his daughter, Xu Xiujuan, quickly became familiar with the birds' habits and characteristics. In 1981, at age 17, she joined the reserve's crane-breeding team.

"Conditions were really tough at the time," her mother, Huang Zhenyao, recalled. "The crane sheds were made of reeds, and they often attracted uninvited guests, such as pie-dogs (a type of pariah) and foxes."

Despite all the difficulties, Xu Xiujuan never swayed from her objective.

"I love red-crowned cranes and nature. Once I step into the wild lands, I forget all the unpleasantness," she wrote in her diary.

After training for just a few days, she was able to work independently. Later, she helped to set a record－a 100 percent survival rate for nestlings.

The chicks she tamed would tweet, fly and dance at her command, all of which was captured on film by documentary makers telling the story of the reserve's red-crowned cranes.

In addition, she mastered all the techniques of feeding, breeding and hatching the red-crowned cranes, as well as white-naped and demoiselle cranes, which saw her become China's first female breeder of the birds.

In March 1985, at the recommendation of two professors at Northeast Forestry University, she entered the school to study wildlife protection for two years.

However, in May 1986, she completed her studies a year ahead of schedule and was invited to help establish a nonmigratory group of red-crowned cranes at the Yancheng Wetland National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu province, which had been set up three years earlier.

Having persuaded her parents to allow her to take the post, Xu left for Yancheng carrying three cranes' eggs.

During the three-day journey, she kept the eggs warm by placing them inside her clothing and brought them safely to the reserve.

Thanks to her deep experience and expertise, Xu hatched the eggs successfully, and after 83 days' careful feeding the three chicks took to the skies for the first time.

In September 1987, Xu pledged to devote herself to protecting the birds.

"I would like to devote my whole life to protecting the red-crowned cranes, even I have to give up comforts, money and my life," she wrote in her diary at the time.

Sadly, that is exactly what happened. A short time later, she drowned after falling into a watery marsh while trying to rescue a stranded crane. She was just 23.

The people of China became aware of the tragedy in the 1990s, when it was related in a popular song, The Story of the Red-crowned Cranes.

In addition, the National Ballet of China based an original production called The Crane Whisperer on Xu Xiujuan's life. It premiered at the Tianqiao Theater in Beijing in September 2015.

"I was impressed by the devotion as well as the love and interaction between the cranes and their caretakers. I think it's a beautiful story about the relationship between humans and nature. It's also universal," said Feng Ying, president of the National Ballet of China.