Instead she spent four weeks traveling the country to meet with American environmental groups, learning how they organize, motivate, educate and protest. Li became aware of China's environmental crisis as a teenager. She was spurred to action when a stream near her home outside Shanghai was ruined. Outraged, she set up a city-wide environmental action group from her high school.
Students now arrange nature walks and educational programs promoting conservation and awareness.
More recently Li became coordinator of China's Green Student Forum, a nationwide network of more than 60 groups. Such activism impressed Global Greengrants Fund and Ecologia, which sponsored her U.S. trip. Li may be precocious, but she is not alone. The Green Student Forum was formed in 1996 by myself and Yan Jun, a student at Beijing's Forestry University. Across the country, dozens of other college kids have since begun to organize in their communities to reduce pollution and preserve endangered species and resources.