Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky arrives in Zhengzhou of China's Henan

Ronald Sakolsky (C) receives an interview at an airport in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Aug. 27, 2026. Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky, who once supported China's desertification control efforts, arrived in Zhengzhou of Henan Province on Thursday. He will pay a visit to Luoyang City in the province.

In 1999, while working as an English teacher in Henan, Sakolsky was moved to tears by a TV report about Yin Yuzhen, a rural Chinese woman who was trying to hold back the shifting sands of the Maowusu Sandy Land in northern China by planting trees. He spent two months raising 5,000 U.S. dollars to help Yin, then a stranger. (Photo by Kong Weijia/Xinhua)

Ronald Sakolsky (C) poses for a group photo upon his arrival at an airport in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Aug. 27, 2026. Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky, who once supported China's desertification control efforts, arrived in Zhengzhou of Henan Province on Thursday. He will pay a visit to Luoyang City in the province.

In 1999, while working as an English teacher in Henan, Sakolsky was moved to tears by a TV report about Yin Yuzhen, a rural Chinese woman who was trying to hold back the shifting sands of the Maowusu Sandy Land in northern China by planting trees. He spent two months raising 5,000 U.S. dollars to help Yin, then a stranger. (Photo by Kong Weijia/Xinhua)

Ronald Sakolsky (C) receives an interview at an airport in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Aug. 27, 2026. Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky, who once supported China's desertification control efforts, arrived in Zhengzhou of Henan Province on Thursday. He will pay a visit to Luoyang City in the province.

In 1999, while working as an English teacher in Henan, Sakolsky was moved to tears by a TV report about Yin Yuzhen, a rural Chinese woman who was trying to hold back the shifting sands of the Maowusu Sandy Land in northern China by planting trees. He spent two months raising 5,000 U.S. dollars to help Yin, then a stranger. (Photo by Kong Weijia/Xinhua)

Ronald Sakolsky (C, front) interacts with his former colleague Zhai Guanjun at an airport in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Aug. 27, 2026. Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky, who once supported China's desertification control efforts, arrived in Zhengzhou of Henan Province on Thursday. He will pay a visit to Luoyang City in the province.

In 1999, while working as an English teacher in Henan, Sakolsky was moved to tears by a TV report about Yin Yuzhen, a rural Chinese woman who was trying to hold back the shifting sands of the Maowusu Sandy Land in northern China by planting trees. He spent two months raising 5,000 U.S. dollars to help Yin, then a stranger. (Photo by Kong Weijia/Xinhua)

Ronald Sakolsky (L) hugs his former colleague Zhai Guanjun at an airport in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Aug. 27, 2026. Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky, who once supported China's desertification control efforts, arrived in Zhengzhou of Henan Province on Thursday. He will pay a visit to Luoyang City in the province.

In 1999, while working as an English teacher in Henan, Sakolsky was moved to tears by a TV report about Yin Yuzhen, a rural Chinese woman who was trying to hold back the shifting sands of the Maowusu Sandy Land in northern China by planting trees. He spent two months raising 5,000 U.S. dollars to help Yin, then a stranger. (Photo by Kong Weijia/Xinhua)