I am human, and my neighbors are human, but humans don’t only have other humans as neighbors. On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, humans share their neighborhood with brown bears. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

On the one hand, it indicates rich biodiversity, which delights conservation biologists—their years of efforts to ban hunting and restore ecosystems have borne fruit. On the other hand, brown bears have begun venturing into human settlements in search of food, posing a threat to human lives and causing significant psychological fear.

On May 31, 2026, Shanghai Star River Bay Bilingual School hosted its 133rd salon—Huang Chengyu’s art exhibition titled “If Your Neighbor Were a Brown Bear.” The event took place in the gallery on the second floor of the Star River Bay Complex and was led by teachers Bao Yezhou and Li Mufeng.

When the interests of the Earth and herders clash, and when conflicts arise between herders and brown bears, how can these be resolved? Can humans and brown bears achieve a state of coexistence? And what does true coexistence actually look like?

Having grown up watching nature documentaries, She couldn’t wait to set out when she had the opportunity to conduct research on brown bears in Qinghai. During her fieldwork there, she almost got to see a brown bear.

It was one morning, while she was still asleep, that an early-rising colleague suddenly received word that a brown bear’s head was stuck in a can of butter. They immediately drove out and witnessed the scene from a distance.

The question arises: How did the brown bear’s head get stuck in a can of butter? This is actually a classic example of human-brown bear conflict—the bear entered a herder’s home, stole their food, and caused economic losses.

But the conflict didn’t stop there; what’s even more serious is the threat brown bears have posed to human lives in recent years. During the summer of 2025, a herding family was killed by a brown bear, leaving behind 11 children.

"You might think that what’s happening in Qinghai has nothing to do with you, but that’s not the case. Protecting brown bears serves the nation’s biodiversity, yet the risks and costs are borne entirely by the herders of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. As city dwellers, we actually benefit from this, yet remain completely unaware of the sacrifices made by the herders. That is why I want to bridge this information gap."

Inspired by this series of events, she created a poem, a picture book, and some prayer flags, which together form this art salon. I hope that the voices of Qinghai’s herders will be heard and that their experiences will be seen.”