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In September 1997, in the offices of the Shijiazhuang Institute of Agricultural Modernisation in ‘Stone family village’, scientists from China and Australia attended the first action meeting of a project supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) entitled ‘Regional Water and Soil Assessment for Managing Sustainable Agriculture’. The project drew together scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia and from a number of organisations in China to tackle serious issues facing sustainable agriculture in the two countries.

As we all know, ‘a river has its source, a tree its roots’, so behind the gathering lay a time of building, exchange and development that every good project should have as a solid foundation.

The Chinese philosopher Laozi (ca 500 BC) was tired of trying to convince kings and emperors (and also ordinary people for that matter) to behave well. As he was riding out of the city gate on a buffalo, the guard begged him to write his philosophy down for people who wished to listen. The result was the Daode Jing, ‘the power of the way’ or Tao. One of its recommendations states:

The greatest tree comes from a tiny sprout, the highest building from a spade of earth, the longest journey starts from a single step.

The single step involved in this project could well be traced to one of the tired steps of three Chinese scientists arriving in Australia after a long series of flights at the beginning of 1984. Li Rui, Tian Guoliang and Xiang Yueqin arrived in Australia for two-year visits to work at CSIRO. Li and Tian worked at the Division of Land Use Research; Xiang worked mainly at Plant Industry and Environmental Mechanics but also on projects at Land Use Research.

These visits were initial steps in improving interactions between CSIRO and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) as China embraced the ‘four modernisations’ of agriculture, industry, national defence and science and technology. A formal agreement for exchanges between CAS and CSIRO followed in 1985; it still helps many scientists from the two organisations to work together and visit each other’s countries.

Li Rui came from the Northwest Institute of Soil and Water Conservation in Yangling, Shaanxi. He brought stories and information about the great yellow earth Loess Plateau of China and its vast scales of erosion and sedimentation as well as about the ‘tiny sprouts’ of reafforestation people were pursuing. He was interested in geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing and how they could help map and manage such expanses. When he returned to China he set up links to allow a microcomputer based image processing system (‘microBRIAN’, developed by CSIRO) to be introduced into China and established a basis for exchanges and joint projects with the CSIRO Divisions of Land Use Research and Soils.

Two CSIRO scientists, Peter Laut and Barbara Harrison, visited Yangling in 1986 and 1988. Initially, microBRIAN worked as well as could be expected in an environment where there were few computers and fewer parts. Over the coming years, the benefits of the advancing modernisation and proliferation of microcomputers was very clear to everyone who had struggled at the beginning. Peter Laut, a geomorphologist, certainly returned from his visits very keen to see links with Yangling increase and Australians become aware of the pioneering work being done by Chinese scientists to combat the soil and water problems of the Loess Plateau.

Awareness of the common issues of drought and water use in Australia and China were developed further when Tian Guoliang and scientists from the CSIRO Division of (by now) Water Resources – Tim McVicar and David Jupp – renewed collaboration. They began a project on soil moisture and drought monitoring using advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data for the expansive North China Plain (NCP) or the plain of the Huang, Huai and Hai Rivers. The pilot project was started in 1991 as one of the first Joint Science and Technology Commission (JSTC) projects under the formal science agreement between the science ministries of the Chinese and Australian governments. The work was completed in 1995, with operational monitoring of the NCP being undertaken in China since the project completion.

However, probably the most significant ‘spade of earth’ that was dug at this time came about through the visit to China by the then Chief Executive Officer of CSIRO, Dr John Stocker, in the company of a (youthful) CSIRO international relations officer, Ta-Yan Leong. In May 1992, John visited Yangling following persistent reports of the successful collaboration and the introduction of the CSIRO microBRIAN system. He was entranced by the countryside and the spirit of the people he met. Even the interesting road that then linked Xi’an and Yangling (which people who knew it will never forget) proved a highlight as John, held up for hours by a traffic jam, experienced the hospitality of Shaanxi villagers. Later in Beijing, at the close of the visit, he and the President of CAS agreed to hold a joint CSIRO–CAS symposium to develop ideas for closer collaboration between Australia and China in studies of water and soil resources.

With considerable effort by many people on both sides — including Li Rui and Tang Keli in China; Graham Allison, Chief of the CSIRO Division of Water Resources in Australia; and Ta-Yan Leong, Rob Fitzpatrick and David Jupp in Australia — a successful symposium was held in Adelaide in November 1994. The workshop focused on salt-affected soils in landscapes, soil water movement and relations and catchment water, sediment and nutrient budgets (Jupp, D.L.B. and Fitzpatrick, R.W. (1994). CSIRO/CAS Soil and Water Symposium, Adelaide, 21–25 November 1994. Symposium Report, CSIRO Division of Water Resources). Out of this symposium came increased respect, new friendships and much better developed ideas for the most significant issues the two sides could jointly tackle. Participants at the meeting emphasised the importance of water management for the NCP, noting special problems in addition to those of erosion and sedimentation so critical on the Loess Plateau. Many parallels and lessons from the Australian experience were established and incorporated in the ACIAR project when it was finally realised.

A group of CSIRO scientists visited China in June 1995 under the CAS–CSIRO Exchange Program. They made an astounding journey through the Loess Plateau, past the Han Great Wall, Yan’an and the Huangdi Ling and finally across the expanses of the NCP. Ideas on potential collaboration were then selected at a meeting in Beijing. On return to Australia, the Australian delegation started a period of active and detailed project development and evolution, in cooperation with ACIAR with the support and guidance of Ian Willett. The planning and development process considerably refined the project, aided by the merger of the CSIRO Divisions of Water Resources and Soils into CSIRO Land and Water. In November 1996, representatives of CSIRO and ACIAR visited China to finalise the planning.

The Australian scientists were inspired by working with people who put so much store by the benefits of science. The four modernisations are still valued in China. Recently a marine science delegation checking in at Hangzhou Airport noticed a sign over the counter that read:

Study science, use science, love science, tell [about] science.

Where are such signs in Australian airports?

At this early stage of the story, we could say ‘The river is clear and the sea calm’ as it all came together. The next and the most important part is the topic of this report. The careful and systematic processes of ACIAR review and development were complete with the commencement of the official project in July 1997 and the start of work at the meeting of scientists from the two countries in Shijiazhuang in September 1997. However, just as the water present at the source of a river is unlikely to be present at the mouth — or certainly will not contribute greatly to its volume — so the people who eventually carried out the project were mostly a new group, fresh and keen to resolve issues and problems of water and soil faced by the two countries.

And yet the pleasure of all involved, new and old, in both countries at the start of the project and the culmination of the many years of work and friendships, was no less than that of Li Bai as he headed for home from exile along the Yangzi:

Apes along the river’s banks call without ceasing, the journey has passed through countless hills and valleys.

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