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Leaving It Better Than He Found It
In his quest to save a vanishing world, WONG HOW MAN is expanding the ever-changing frontiers of exploration
By SUSAN JAKES

The swashbuckling vocation of global explorer is not what it used to be: most of the blank spots in the atlas have long been filled in. Which is why Wong How Man, China's most accomplished living explorer, has had to re-engineer the profession. Instead of seeking new frontiers, Wong searches out those precious realms that haven't been overrun by the outside world. And then, for the sake of anyone who may follow in his footsteps, he works to make sure they retain their character.

The Hong Kong-born Wong, 52, has serious expeditionary credentials. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, he has identified the world's northernmost rain forest (it's in eastern Tibet) and proved that the source of the Yangtze River isn't where everyone thought it was. A skilled photographer, he got his start in the 1970s when, fresh out of college, he was hired by National Geographic to lead and photograph a series of expeditions to China's remote border regions.

Early in his travels, Wong realized it wasn't enough merely to observe and catalog. "Everywhere I went I encountered people and customs that I knew were going to vanish almost as soon as I'd photographed them," he recalls. "I realized that to be an explorer in today's world, you can't escape becoming a conservationist." This was especially true in China, with its far-flung natural and sociological treasures increasingly falling victim to overrapid modernization and environmental blight. "Anyone who's seen the richness of China's cultural and natural diversity should feel the same way I do," he says.

In 1987, Wong founded the China Exploration and Research Society (CERS), a nonprofit organization committed to ensuring that the people, animals and sites Wong and his colleagues encounter on their expeditions won't disappear. The Hong Kong-based group now runs 12 projects in China. One involves a campaign to end the slaughter of chiru, antelope whose fur is used in the production of shahtoosh shawls. Another aims at restoring the crumbling frescoes of a tiny Tibetan nunnery. Not averse to high tech, the group has even used nasa satellites to pinpoint ancient caravansaries buried deep in the sands of the Silk Road.

Wong's thirst for adventure is abetted by his determination and his taste for mischief. ("Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," is his pet phrase for how he navigates China's seas of red tape.) "He's like a ferret," says naturalist William Bleisch. "He has to get his nose into everything." For the sake of the world's fragile treasures—and a new generation of explorers—let's hope he does just that.

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