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[1] China’s first internationally certified female professional tree climber has turned a fear of heights into a career spent high in the canopy, pruning urban trees. Yu Yanling, a former track athlete from Xiamen, a city in southeastern China’s Fujian province, was once afraid of heights. Now in her 30s, she has climbed trees as tall as 60 metres.
[2] She discovered the sport by chance at university, after seeing students suspended from branches by ropes and witnessing the joy it brought them, according to the mainland media outlet Jizhou Studio. Her athletic background helped her master the skill quickly, and after graduation, she began taking on tree-related work. Unlike conventional pruning, which is often done from outside the canopy, professional tree climbers work from within, reaching dead or dangerous branches that machinery cannot access.
[3] On islands, in crowded residential compounds and in other places where cranes cannot operate, climbers such as Yu are often the only option. During typhoon season, she can spend whole days in trees, cutting branches to protect nearby residents and the trees themselves.
[4] According to Xiamen Evening News, Yu is often bitten by insects while working and carries medicine with her as a precaution. A single misjudgment can be serious. If she wrongly assesses a branch, it could swing or fall towards her face or neck.
[5] Yu told mainland media that every time she climbs, she first works out an escape route. She said her body would still tremble when she is high up, but the fear fades once she is absorbed in a competition or a job. Her work has taken her beyond pruning. Yu has climbed trees to help researchers attach tracking devices to fledglings and has retrieved drones caught in branches for tourists. Also, she has reportedly worked with local botanical gardens, collecting fruit from hoop pines for research. The trees can grow to 20 metres and have sharp leaves and spiked fruit.
[6] Yu’s rise in the niche profession has brought her awards. In 2016, she swept the women’s category at a tree-climbing competition in Taiwan. A year later, she won the women’s title at the China Tree Climbing Championship. She was also the first female tree climber on the mainland to be certified by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).
[7] But the profession has also drawn scrutiny. Some critics argue that climbing can damage trees or disturb birds and other wildlife. Yu rejects that view. “True tree climbers climb for the well-being of trees,” she told online publication Sixth Tone, adding that the practice is one of the best ways to understand and protect them.
[8] She has also faced doubts over whether women are suited to a job often seen as requiring strength and height. Yu said women could have advantages in awkward positions or on thinner branches, where a lighter, more flexible body can help. “Female tree climbers have to overcome more things. You can only keep going,” she once told the media.
Source: South China Morning Post, May 14
