求婚大作战
American teacher revisits land where forest grown from $5,000 donation in 1999_我的网站
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On Monday afternoon, American teacher Ronald Sakolsky visited the homeland of Chinese desert fighter Yin Yuzhen in Uxin Banner of Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This was a place the American man had visited in 2000 and it has completely changed since then.
In 1999, Sakolsky, a teacher in a China-US education exchange program, was touched by a report on Yin and her husband's afforestation efforts in the harsh wilderness of Mu Us Desert, and raised $5,000 to support her green cause. During that visit, they took pictures - in front of the sunken pit where the Yin couple once resided and in the barren land with a finger-thin sapling they had just planted against a backdrop of dust and bare earth.
What has the $5,000 changed?
On Monday, they came to the Sakolsky forest - a permanent tribute honoring Sakolsky's early contribution to the region's ecological revival - and replicated the vintage pictures, standing in front of a pit that has long been abandoned and beside a newly planted sapling. This time, however, there are bushes and trees in the background.
This contrast not only witnessed their friendship across time and the Pacific Ocean, but also showcased a promise Yin has kept for 27 years and a green dream that has been made possible through generations of joint unwavering efforts from Yin, her husband and countless other sand fighters.
Homecoming with family cooking
Yin hosted Sakolsky on Monday at her home, filling the air with the aroma of home-cooked meals during their long-awaited reunion. Watermelons were served along with other fresh fruits and vegetables, all harvested locally. Yin told the Global Times earlier that she learned the English word "more" to persuade him to eat more.
In 1999, Yin had few options for showing her hospitality, so she cooked a bowl of plain noodles for Sakolsky. Now, the harsh wasteland has transformed into a vibrant green oasis, thanks to unwavering afforestation efforts.
In the courtyard, the Global Times reporter saw Yin grinning from ear to ear with pride as she introduced the produce from the farmland - green pepper longer than a palm, a bottle gourd even bigger than Yin's head, and bags of foxtail millet packaged with the assistance of Yin's grandchildren, who are proud of the family's generations of commitment to green causes.
During a tour of Yin's home, Sakolsky was impressed by the beautiful house with its green courtyard, saying "You deserve every centimeter of this house." Throughout the visit, he repeatedly praised Yin's hands, which the desert fighter and model worker used to change both the land and her own life through arduous work.
The $5,000 Sakolsky donated in 1999 was equivalent to three years' income for Yin's entire family at the time. Today, that money has grown into more than 50,000 trees.
But Yin's journey did not stop there. Over the following decades, with the support of China's growing ecological restoration policies — including subsidies for afforestation and compensation for forest managers — she transformed the barren land into a productive family forest farm. Her success has inspired many others in the region to take up tree planting and sand control, transforming what was once a desperate struggle into a sustainable livelihood.
From the sandy hollow where the Yin couple lived in in 1985 and the earth hut they resided in until 1993, to the solid brick house Sakolsky saw when he last visited, and the two-story house the big family now lives in, the change in living environment is a clear example of ecological dividends.
Uxin Banner lies in the heartland of the Mu Us Desert. The desertification rate was over 90 percent in the 1950s and forestation coverage was merely 7.2 percent as of 1980. Now, the forestation rate has increased to 33 percent, while plantation coverage has expanded to 85 percent, per official data.
Carry on the greenness, kindness
This miracle would have been impossible without numerous people like Yin, long-term systematic planning and scientific governance.
Chen Ziliang, an expert from the local forestry and grassland bureau, said that Mu Us Desert's sand‑control journey has evolved from collective afforestation to contract desert‑reclamation, moving beyond the simple goal of "keeping trees alive" to restoring vegetation based on water‑resource conditions.
Putting the idea of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" into practice, Uxin Banner no longer views "greenness" and "growth" as an either‑or proposition. On restored sandy lands, the under‑forest economy, eco‑agriculture and eco‑tourism have flourished. Sand‑fixing shrubs are now processed into animal feed and biomass fuel, and local authorities are exploring photovoltaic‑powered desert control, the Global Times learned.
Sand control is no longer just about keeping sand away; it's a development approach that guarantees a greener and better living environment alongside a booming economy and increasing incomes.
On Monday afternoon, when Sakolsky finally stepped into the forest named after him, this American teacher witnessed the Chinese woman's perseverance and commitment to her promises. The $5,000 donated without expectations has grown into a thriving forest of around 50,000 trees.
"A promise is a promise. Ms. Yin fulfilled her promise," Sakolsky said. After 27 years, the wasteland is green, and Sakolsky and Yin are "brother and sister."
"This is the answer to how we guide young people: We must teach them love and perseverance. We need to show young people photos of Ms. Yin planting trees, digging the soil with her bare hands," Sakolsky remarked while packing a jar of sand. He said he planned to bring it back to the US, telling his grandchildren it is not just a jar of sand, but "a jar of love."
Sakolsky told the Global Times earlier that the younger generation only knows about the dust-covered landscape from photos and stories of the elderly. It is important to tell them how the greenness is achieved, and how every single person can contribute to making an extensive forest in the harshest environment.
"I see where China and America can work together. I see it, so I will not quit. She [Yin] never quit. 'Quit' is not in her vocabulary," Sakolsky said with emotion on Monday.
"Chinese and Americans can be family. We can get over the differences if we focus on the similarities... If we focus on our similarities and not our differences, we can solve the problems."
At the end of Monday's schedule, Yin and Sakolsky planted another sapling together, just as they did about three decades ago, but in a completely different landscape.
This new sapling carries on the story of not only greenness through generations of joint efforts, but also kindness across the Pacific Ocean.
。 (ECNS) -- The 34th Guangzhou Expo, underway in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, put sci-tech innovations and mountain-region specialties on display Saturday, serving as a platform for east-west cooperation that links the Greater Bay Area with Zunyi in Guizhou Province and the Three Gorges Reservoir Area in Chongqing. At the Tianhe venue, a pair of smart glasses drew some of the largest crowds. The device uses eye tracking and vital-sign monitoring to allow contact-free interaction, and it also offers simultaneous interpretation with AI-generated voice cloning in real time. Other exhibits included an AI-assisted system for preliminary diagnosis, designed to ease the strain on medical resources; virus-free seed potato breeding techniques aimed at securing crop yield and quality; and consumer products made from ingredients classified as both food and medicine. All were developed through collaboration among companies, universities, and research institutes, turning laboratory results into everyday applications. Guangzhou's Tianhe District, which has placed sci-tech innovation high on its agenda, is building an innovation hub for the Greater Bay Area. Alongside the technology on show, the expo helped match products with buyers under east-west paired-assistance programs. The Zhuhai-Zunyi session of the Guangzhou Consumption-Assistance Exhibition featured nearly 100 specialty goods from the eight Zunyi counties that receive paired support. One brand zone used displays and on-site tastings to show how a national supply-chain center for new-style tea drinks is taking shape and how Zunyi's tea industry is changing as a result. The center, built jointly by Zhuhai and Zunyi, has doubled the added value of Zunyi tea. Official figures show the city's new-style tea drink industry reached an output value of 1.005 billion yuan (about $139 million) in 2025, up 40% year on year, with local tea farmers among the beneficiaries. Zhuhai Agricultural Control Group has arranged talks with buyers across the Greater Bay Area to widen market access for premium farm produce from Zunyi. In Daozhen Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, Zhuhai-Zunyi cooperation has brought in 107 million yuan in east-west paired-assistance funding, and the output value of local industry has risen sharply since 2021. Companies and cultural tourism operators from Chongqing's Three Gorges Reservoir Area attended the expo as a delegation for the first time, a significant step for the region's signature industries in reaching the national market. Guangzhou has supported the Three Gorges Reservoir Area through paired assistance for years. Exhibits covering both technology and cultural tourism also underlined the region's push for green development. Officials from the Three Gorges Reservoir Area said they would build on the exhibition to deepen ties with Guangzhou and other Greater Bay Area cities, and would take part in trade fairs and promotional events in the bay area on a regular basis. (By Helen Mo and intern Xu Wenda)
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