THE SANDS OF TIME

By Li Nan

It needs two adults to fully wrap their arms around Shi Guangyins first tree， which stands on the southern edge of the Maowusu sand land， one of the four largest sand lands in China. Shi， Chinas first state-level hero fighting desertification， planted the tree back in 1984. “I love it very much； its like my own child，” he told Beijing Review.

The 69-year-old has led the way in greening north China by planting tens of millions of different trees and bushes in the past 37 years.

Deadly sands

Shi was born into a farmers family in Dingbian County， Yulin， Shaanxi Province. The county sits at the conjunction of four provincial-level areas and the southern edge of Maowusu. In the 1950s， 39 percent of the countys land area was covered by sand， and the overall greenness was only 0.5 percent. Sandstorms hit the area frequently. “We moved nine times in my fathers lifetime as the sandstorm had crashed our houses from the back，” Shi said.

Whats worse， Shi lost a buddy in a sand storm. One day， when he was about 7 or 8， Shi was herding in a flat field with Zhao Huwa， who was only 5. Suddenly， a strong sandstorm rose up and the sky became as dark as night. “I couldnt see a thing and lost sight of my buddy，” Shi said.

Shi was blown away， and suffered a blackout as he was thrown into a sheep pen in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， some 15 km away. When the owner went to check on his sheep in the morning， he found a child coated with a thick layer of sand passed out in the pen. “He saved me and fed me some milk tea，” Shi said. When Shi woke up， the Inner Mongolian named Bart， asked about the boys address and sent a message to Shis family.

When Shis father tracked him down in Inner Mongolia three days later， he was eager to know the whereabouts of his buddy and the sheep. Unfortunately， the 5-year-old had gone missing. “The moving sand had brought so much harm into our life，” said Shi. From then on， he was determined to fight “the demon sand.”

As a matter of fact， “the demon sand，” Maowusu， was a green land of milk and honey back in the fifth and sixth century. However， it degraded step by step into a sand land because of continuous wars and overexploitation in the following 1，000 years. By the time the Peoples Republic of China was founded in 1949， Maowusu had become a 42，200-square-km sand land， with its southeastern part located in Yulin.

A tough nut

In the early 1950s， the Chinese Government established several anti-desertification research institutes in sandy areas and moved to green its northern part， an area prone to erosion. In 1978， the Three-North Shelter Forest Program was launched. Extending from the northeastern to the northwestern tip of the country， the shelterbelt is expected to cover more than 40 percent of Chinas land area， including Shaanxi. The program is set to continue till 2050. As of 1984， Chinese residents have been encouraged to plant vegetation across contracted sand lands and barren hills.