Yi Jiefang and the trees she planted

A 67-year-old woman from Shanghai has planted over two million trees in the deserts of northwest China’s Inner Mongolia for the past 12 years to fulfill her son’s last wish.

Yi Jiefang, the self-giving mother sold her house property and established a NPO “Green Life” to plant trees in Chinese deserts after she got the news that her only son, Yang Ruizhe was dead in an accident while study in Japan in 2000.

Yi's husband Yang Antai is also devoted to the tree-planting enterprise.

Yang once told her mother his wish to come back to China and determinatioin to devote himself in deserts afforestation. In deep grief, the mother decide to pick up her son’s ambition. She used her son’s life insurance and accident compensation as well as money from the sale of her house to start the green project.

The trees Yi planted are now growing well in the deserts

Since 2004, Yi has planted over 1.1 million trees on the Keerqin sandy land, and she plans to plant over 8660-square-kilometer woods on the Ala Shan Desert in northwest China in the future.

Yi and people are working out the irrigation system.

“Men cannot take money with them after they die. I wish to turn my money into the green lands, which can be everlasting,” Yi said.