Published on: 2026-07-23
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Twenty-seven years ago, an American named Ronald Sakolski, who was working as an English teacher in the Chinese city of Luoyang, saw a television report about a woman named Yin Yuzhen, who was planting trees and fighting against the advancing Maowusu Desert in the city of Ordos in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Thus, a small seed of kindness was planted: a donation of 5,000 US dollars crossed the ocean, and after years the sandy desert turned into a green sea of 50,000 trees.
“It’s a miracle, and there’s no other word for it,” Sakolski said to a Xinhua correspondent during an interview he gave on June 16 at his home in the town of Plum, located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He repeatedly emphasized that the real heroine is Yin Yuqian herself, and that he is just an ordinary American who decided to help.
Sakolski, who is now almost 70 years old, taught history at a local high school until he retired. In early 1999, when he was just over 40, he accidentally saw an advertisement in a magazine recruiting volunteers to teach spoken English and listening skills in China and immediately applied. Together with 13 other American teachers, he flew to Beijing, and three days later they were sent to teach in different cities around China. Sakolski went to Luoyang.
In Luoyang, Sakolski watched English-language television news twice a day. One evening, he saw a story about Yin Yuzhen, who was planting trees in the Mu Us Desert. “I cried; it deeply moved me… I felt that I had to help,” Sakolski recalls.
Over the next two months, Sakolski spent his free evenings online collecting funds in the US to plant trees for Yin Yuzhen. He contacted more than a dozen organizations, and eventually a charity foundation from Boston agreed to provide a donation of $5,000.
Sakolski says that working as a foreign teacher in China has left him with the warmest memories. He still maintains many years of friendship with some Chinese colleagues and students. He has also visited many Chinese cities. “I received a very warm welcome in China. Life in China changed me and made me better,” Sakolski admits.
In the spring of 2000, Sakolski arrived at the Mu-Us desert. The car drove through the sands for several hours. “There were no roads, no trees, no houses – nothing green at all around. We were simply crossing one dune after another,” he recounts.
Yin Yuzhen showed Sakolski how to plant trees in sandy soil, invited him into her house literally grown into the dunes, and treated him to delicious noodles. “At that time, I secretly thought: turning this sand into a forest is an impossible task. I told her, ‘It’s impossible.’ But Yin Yuzhen believed she could do it… She was full of faith that she would achieve her goal and was not going to give up,” Sakolski recalls.
Sakolski was especially moved by Yin Yuuzhen’s love for her country. “Since childhood, she dreamed of making China more beautiful. It was the dream of her whole life, and she managed to fulfill it,” he says.
Sakolski also noted that the programs implemented by China over the past several decades to combat desertification represent a project of colossal scale. “It is astonishing. The Chinese, out of love for their homeland, are willing to make sacrifices, which is deserving of great respect.”
In August of this year, after more than 20 years, Sakolski will visit China for the third time. He looks forward to seeing with his own eyes the grand changes that have taken place in the country over these years, and the green forest that has grown amid the once yellow sands. According to him, upon meeting Yin Yuzhen, he will first give her a strong hug, and then hopes to plant a tree with her again.
According to Sakolski, both the Chinese and Americans love their families, value life, care for the Earth, and want to live in peace. For the sake of the common home of humanity, the two countries should focus on what unites them rather than divides them, and they need to remember their shared mission and overcome disagreements for its sake.
Sakolski is looking forward to a new meeting with Yin Yuzhen – a meeting between an ordinary American and a Chinese heroine in the fight against desertification.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.