Armed with gloves, trash bags, and drinking water, students and faculty members of Sias International University collected garbage off Mount Shizu [Shizu Shan] over the Earth Day weekend. Twenty students and three teachers spent four hours hiking the ancestral mountain, picking up trash from the top to the bottom. Large trash bags were soon filled as the groups scoured the main trails as well as the smaller off-beat trails. "It reminds us not to throw something in the way (of others) because it was hard to collect," student Cathy Wang said. "We can teach future [generations ]to pick it [trash] up."

The group left Sias early Saturday (May 19) morning. They divided themselves into three teams once they reached the ancient mountain, located 20 minutes outside of Xinzheng, in the province of Henan. Two teams traversed the main route and one meandered on the smaller trails up the face of the mountain. The main group found standard garbage, papers, and bottles, as well as some odd things like shoes, half a shirt, and a broken glass globe. Their bags were so full they had to leave them in trash bins at the top of the mountain. "The hope is that when people see us picking up trash, they'll say, 'Whoa! Someone has to pick that up!'" said Drew Tilson, a second-year instructor. "We want people to know that what they do affects others." The group wandering through the wilderness found the most interesting trash of all - men's underwear. In addition to this, they found a large burned area on the mountain where visitors had tried to burn their trash and had left an even bigger mess. "I learned to try my best to protect the environment and not hurt the environment," sophomore student, Michael Sun said. All of the students felt it was a meaningful morning spent on the mountain. They were able to enjoy the weather and help clean up a special place. Andy Chen, who had never been to the mountain before, was touched by the effort of students and foreigners. "It means a lot to me that foreign teachers would travel all this way and want to help clean my country," he said.