Two journalists from Southern Metropolis Daily, Yang Xiaohong and Fang Qianhua, accompanied a scientific expedition for more than a month in Tibet, travelling from the southern slopes of the Himalayas to the north. They saw the fire-tailed sunbird, known as the world’s most beautiful bird; the elusive wolves of the high plateau; red gorals; the majestic Cinereous Vulture; and the charming and precious red panda.

The judges of the 2012 China Environmental Press Awards – co-organised by chinadialogue, The Guardian, Sina and with support from the Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology (SEE), felt that the two reporters had expanded the scope of environmental reporting.

Awarding them the “best science report” prize, the awards committee said that almost every new species discovered on the Tibetan Plateau has rewritten the natural history books, and these two reporters have written a new chapter for nature reporting in the Chinese media. These are some of the photos from their journey.