The College of Grassland Science at Gansu Agricultural University – hailed as the “Huangpu Military Academy” of China’s grassland industry – has been deeply engaged in western grassland science for over seventy years. Generations of scholars have devoted themselves to the cause, working tirelessly in laboratories, experimental fields, and alpine pastures to safeguard the verdant landscapes of Longyuan (Gansu). On June 8, as part of the online theme activity “Youth Chapter: Tracing Light along the Silk Road,” a press delegation visited the college for a special feature interview. The event was guided by the Online Communication Bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of China, co-hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of Gansu Province, the Education Department of Gansu Province, and the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League, with special support from the China Internet Development Foundation. It was jointly organized by Hexi University, the Cyberspace Administration of Zhangye Municipal Committee, and China Gansu Net.

In the laboratory, Associate Professor Niu Kuiju continuously simulates cold, drought, and saline-alkali environments to breed grass varieties, carrying on the academic legacy of his predecessors through basic scientific research. On the practice plots at the university's campus experimental base, doctoral candidate Guan Jian tends to his dedicated land for breeding new varieties. Compared with the superior research conditions of metropolitan cities, he prefers the soil of the fields, believing that only by staying close to the grassland can one truly grasp the growth patterns of forage plants. On the Tianzhu Alpine Grassland Comprehensive Experimental Station in the Qilian Mountains—the field research base for Professor Cao Wenxia's team—Cao leads his group there every year to conduct observations and experiments, focusing on the grass livestock balance of alpine meadows. In one lab they tackle challenges, in one field they breed new varieties, and on one mountain they explore greenery—three generations of grassland scientists, each playing their part, have embedded their passion deep in the grasses and plants of Longyuan.

Academician Ren Jizhou once emotionally remarked that Gansu is a natural grassland for grassland research, possessing 15 of the country's 18 grassland types. This land, spanning alpine, arid, desert, and oasis regions, serves as a natural research laboratory and a home where generations of grassland scientists have rooted and kept watch. Over seventy years of passing the torch, the college's preceding generations laid the foundation for the field: Cao Zhizhong delved deeply into forage germplasm resources, and Shi Shangli tackled the breeding of alfalfa—known as the "king of forages." Under the college's coordinated planning, successive generations of researchers have continued their work, planting the roots of China's cold and arid grassland industry deep in Longyuan. In 2023, the team led by Shi Shangli was named among the third batch of national "Huang Danian-style" teacher teams in universities. Cao Wenxia is one of the core backbone members of this honored team. In his daily research and educational work, he consistently aligns with the team's goals, steadfastly advancing his original aspiration of serving the nation. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, he has been rooted in the mountains and fields for over twenty years, deeply engaged in grassland ecological protection and the development of the grass industry.

The vast grasslands of northwestern China are both expansive and fragile. Degradation, impoverishment, and an imbalance between grass and livestock had long constrained regional development. Relying on his team’s strength, Cao Wenxia devoted himself to solid, practical work—insisting on grounding research in real-world applications and shunning empty theoretical talk. Through repeated monitoring, comparison, and experimentation, he developed models for grassland improvement, vegetation reseeding, and scientific rotational grazing that are adapted to cold and arid environments, gradually restoring large swaths of degraded grassland to verdant health.

As a position scientist for the National Forage Industry Technology System, specializing in grass-crop rotation, Cao Wenxia focuses on the coordinated development of cropping and livestock farming. Alfalfa, rich in nutrients and high in protein, serves as the basic ration for animal husbandry and is regarded as the "staple food" of the industry. Oat grass, with its high energy density and good palatability, thrives in cool areas at an altitude of around 2,000 meters—where both higher and lower elevations make high yields difficult to achieve. The oat grass cultivated at the Shandan Horse Farm in the Hexi Corridor, benefiting from the cool climate of the Qilian Mountains and meltwater from snow-capped peaks, has exceptional sugar content and now rivals international quality standards; it is referred to as the "backbone" of the industry. Leveraging the characteristics of these two forage types and drawing on authoritative findings from domestic mixed-sowing trials, Cao led his team to tackle the differential ratio mixed sowing technology of alfalfa and oat grass, establishing composite artificial grasslands suitable for natural grazing. This approach simultaneously addresses ecological restoration and forage production increases. Relevant experimental data have been successively published in industry academic journals, charting a new path for upgrading the grass livestock industry in cold and arid regions.

While frequently traveling to towns and villages in the Hexi Corridor and central Gansu to translate practical technologies into on-ground applications, Cao Wenxia has also compiled the long accumulated grassland field measurement data and hands on experimental experience from his years of fieldwork into written form. Together with his senior colleague Sun Jixiong, he co-edited the textbook Grassland Cultivation Science, which was designated as a “Thirteenth Five Year Plan” textbook by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. He also independently authored Grassland?Field Cropping Systems and served as associate editor for several other professional works, including Grassland Management and Herbivore Feeding and Nutrition. Through these efforts, he has transformed frontline scientific research into classroom materials, in turn nurturing the next generation of grassland professionals.

In his teaching and mentoring, Cao Wenxia follows the college's educational philosophy, going beyond classroom lectures by taking students on field studies in the grasslands, thereby carrying forward the original aspiration of grounding scholarship in the rural landscape. On ordinary days, at the campus experimental plots, teachers and students meticulously water and fertilize the trial oat crops as needed, attending to every detail of care. Yet, in the mild, lowland environment, the oats do not grow as well as expected. In Cao's view, oats are naturally inclined toward the high-altitude, cool climate of the Qilian Mountains—despite the harsh cold and challenging conditions there, these very conditions suit their innate growth habits. Just as forage plants grow in accordance with environmental laws, so too do young professionals entering the grassland industry. Through the team's field studies and hands on field practice, successive groups of young researchers shed their restlessness, gradually accumulate knowledge and skills, and steadily grow into capable scientists.

Speaking of this contrast, Cao Wenxia said: “Just as it is with grass seeds, so it is with generations of grassland workers. The western wilderness—swept by wind and sand, plagued by harsh conditions—tempers them through adversity; only after enduring such trials can they consolidate their skills and grow strong. As grassland people, whenever the motherland needs us, we are willing to be tiny blades of grass taking root in the West.”