A desert miracle: from barren sands to abundant harvests

"It's a miracle, nothing but a miracle," said retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky. On Aug. 24, 26 years after his last visit, he returned to Yin Yuzhen's home in Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Yin treated him to fresh vegetables and fruits picked from the once-barren sandy land. Yin is a national model worker who has devoted four decades to afforestation in the Maowusu Sandy Land.

Back in 1999, while teaching English in central China's Henan Province, Sakolsky was deeply moved by Yin's tireless work to combat desertification in Inner Mongolia. He raised $5,000 to support Yin and her husband in their fight against sand encroachment in the region. The following year, he endured a grueling long-distance journey to the Maowusu Sandy Land to plant trees alongside her. The two parted ways afterwards and never met again until this Aug. 24 reunion.

Today, the saplings funded by that donation have grown into more than 50,000 mature trees across the Maowusu Sandy Land, one of China's four major sandy lands.