Eighteen officials from the Forestry Department of Shandong Province, China toured the Ballona freshwater marsh and Ballona Discovery Park, on July 11, 2013. Friends of Ballona Wetlands described to them how a unique coalition of non-profits, private developers, educational institutions, and government agencies came together to preserve remaining Ballona Wetlands for future restoration and to create the freshwater marsh. We exchanged gifts with the delegation, and learned that their gift abalone shells containing hand-painted images of warriors depicted well-known Chinese epic stories about rebels who fought a Tenth Century emperor, and lived on island fortresses in the middle of vast lakes and wetlands in today’s Shandong Province.
