American man joins desert control specialist in building a 'green kingdom'

"Look, this is the first tree planted with under my guidance by my 'American little brother'. It grows well," said Yin Yuzhen, a Chinese desert control specialist, while pointing at a Mongolian scotch pine standing tall in the Mu Us Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Donald Ashton Jones, an American youth, loads tree seedlings onto a vehicle in the Mu Us Desert. (Photo/Bai Guocai)

Over the past 39 years, Yin has created a "green kingdom" spanning 70,000 mu (4,666.7 hectares) in the Mu Us Desert, one of the four major deserts in China. The desert, which covers a total area of 70.5 million mu, spans across parts of Inner Mongolia, the northwest part of China's Shaanxi Province, and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The "little brother" mentioned by Yin is Donald Ashton Jones, a 33-year-old American youth from Florida who adopted the woman's surname as his Chinese name, Yin Yifan.

The story between them began in 2014 when Jones, who was in Harbin, capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, stumbled on a documentary of Yin Yuzhen's desert control efforts. Jones was left in awe and decided to visit her and join her efforts to plant trees and protect the environment.

One year later, Jones, who taught English in Harbin, came to the Mu Us Desert to learn how to plant trees from Yin.

Photo shows Yin Yuzhen, a Chinese desert control specialist. (Photo/Shen Saer)

"I felt incredibly proud to have inspired a young American to plant trees here and raise awareness of protecting our planet. I felt that my efforts weren't in vain," Yin said.

Under Yin's guidance, Jones planted his first tree. After he mastered the skills, he could plant over 50 trees a day on his own.

"He worked as hard as we did. To my surprise, the trees he planted maintained a high survival rate. He came to help me plant trees, but when I offered to pay him, he refused," Yin said. She and Jones bore a similarity in their work ethic. "Do it well or not at all," she noted.

Yin is a native of Jingbian county in Shaanxi Province. She moved to the Mu Us Desert, specifically the remote village of Salawusu, located in Ordos city, Inner Mongolia, after she got married 39 years ago. Back then, the village was severely plagued by sand.

The barren landscape of years past has given way to lush greenery, a testament to Yin's indomitable spirit and the green miracle she created through her relentless fight against desertification in the Mu Us Desert.

Today, 75 percent of the desert in Inner Mongolia has been put under control. Yin's 70,000 mu of forest is now part of China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, the world's largest afforestation project.

Yin Yuzhen (L) instructs Donald Ashton Jones (R) to plant a tree. (Photo/Bai Guocai)

Yin's success didn't come easily. New trees she planted were once uprooted by strong winds, and the ditches dug for three months were once buried by sand. Despite these challenges, she never wavered from her commitment to desert control. After setbacks, she greatly improved the survival rate of her saplings.

Yin's "green kingdom" has transformed the local environment, climate, and soil. The once-deafening winds and suffocating sandstorms are now gone. Cherry and peach trees bear abundant fruits, and organic millet sells for 90 yuan ($12.37) per kilogram.

"I deeply understand President Xi Jinping's words: 'Happiness is achieved through hard work,'" Yin said.

Her afforestation efforts have been recognized by China, and she has become quite famous across the country.

When Yin met Jones for the first time, he was a tall, slim, fair-skinned young man. After just a few days of planting trees in the desert, he looked tanned.

"Planting trees in the desert was exhausting and incredibly challenging. But her unwavering commitment to protecting the Earth was truly inspiring," Jones said. Despite the hardship, he was determined to carry on Yin's spirit of tree planting in the desert.

Since their meeting, Jones has continued to return to the Mu US Desert to plant trees with Yin. Over the past 10 years, he has planted over 2,000 trees in the desert.

Photo shows trees in the Mu Us Desert. (People's Daily Overseas Edition/Wei Shu)

In 2017, Jones brought his wife to the desert. "I want her to understand why I love this place. Although Yin and I come from different countries, we live on the same planet. We both love nature and the Earth. We share a common goal - to make our planet better," Jones said.

On April 4 this year, Jones journeyed to Yin's home by train and car. He expressed excitement at seeing the specks of green in the Mu Us Desert during spring.

"I can see wind turbines and solar panels in the distance. The Mu Us Desert is securing a win-win of environmental protection and economic growth. This is something I love to see," he said.

This spring, Yin’s 12-year-old grandson, Bai Yunhe, met Jones for the first time. The two agreed to pass on the spirit of hard work and perseverance with the goal of protecting the Earth, humanity's one and only home.

Jones was not the first foreigner who supported Yin's desertification control efforts in the Mu Us Desert. Moved by her deeds, an American man donated $5,000 to her for tree planting more than 20 years ago.

Since around 2006, a South Korean family of four has come to visit Yin almost every year and donate money to her for tree planting.

"It's incredibly challenging. You've made a great contribution to the Earth and humanity. Living on the same planet, we must do our part to protect our common planet," the family told Yin Yuzhen.