A 26-year green friendship that transcends borders

Ronald Sakolsky and Yin Yuzhen hug each other at the airport, Aug. 23. (Photo from People's Daily App)

After 26 years apart, a friendship that has transcended national borders has entered a new chapter.

On Aug. 23, after more than 30 hours of flights and transfers, American Ronald Sakolsky arrived at Ejin Horo Airport in Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. There, he was reunited with Yin Yuzhen, a local hero in the fight against desertification.

As soon as Sakolsky came into view, Yin, who had been waiting at the arrival area, hurried forward. The two embraced in tears. It was a hug they had waited 26 years to share.

More than 20 years ago, they were just friends who happened to meet. But today, they are as close as brother and sister, Sakolsky said, his voice choked with emotion. "I want to express my gratitude to her for everything she has done for the environment."

Beside him, Yin was already overcome with emotion.

Their story began with a stretch of sandy land.

In 1985, after marrying into a family living in the Mu Us Desert in Inner Mongolia, Yin was confronted by vast, shifting dunes. She vowed that she would rather exhaust herself planting trees than let the desert take over. Thus began her decades-long fight against desertification and her efforts to restore vegetation.

In 1999, Sakolsky, then teaching in China, learned of Yin and her husband's work. Through a foundation, he raised $5,000 in donations to support their tree-planting efforts.

Over the years, the seedlings -- mainly fast-growing poplars and desert willows -- purchased with the funds have grown into more than 50,000 trees, now firmly rooted in the Mu Us Desert.

Yin Yuzhen (right) and Ronald Sakolsky meet each other in Uxin banner, north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region in 2000.

Yin never forgot this cross-border friendship. In May of this year, she searched for Sakolsky online and successfully reconnected with him, inviting him to fulfill a "green commitment" together. Now, the long-awaited reunion that has attracted so much attention has finally taken place.

To communicate with her old friend, Yin even began learning English, focusing on words of friendship and affection: "brother," "thanks," "miss" and others. She was still practicing them repeatedly in her hotel room just before leaving for the airport.

Sakolsky was equally excited about the reunion.

On the evening of Aug. 21, U.S. Eastern Time, he departed from Washington Dulles International Airport for Beijing, beginning a 10-day trip to China.

As the moment of the reunion drew closer, he felt both excited and nervous, he said before setting off, adding that "it almost felt like a dream."

"I want to see with my own eyes the forest Yin planted," he said. Although he had seen countless photos of it over the years, he said that standing there in person, touching the trees, and planting a new one together would be an entirely different experience.

He also looked forward to meeting former colleagues and students. "For more than 20 years, I have kept in touch by email with some of the Chinese students I taught. Whenever they make progress in their work or lives, many of them send me an email right away," he said.

After more than four decades of unremitting effort, Yin and her husband have gradually transformed about 4,667 hectares of desert into a vibrant oasis. The oasis now awaits the fulfillment of their "green commitment."

Combating desertification is not a one-person battle. Along the way, countless people like Yin have put down roots and devoted themselves to restoring the land.

Photo shows Yin Yuzhen. (People's Daily/Li Zhiyao)

Today, 85 percent of the Mu Us Desert has been brought under control. Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Inner Mongolia has completed ecological restoration projects covering approximately 8.47 million hectares, and treated approximately 4.46 million hectares of desertified land, the largest such effort of any region in China.

This reunion is not the end of their story, but a new beginning. In the coming days, Sakolsky will travel to the Mu Us Desert to plant trees alongside Yin. He will also visit Luoyang in central China's Henan province to meet teachers and students from the school where he once taught.

"The reason Sakolsky and I were able to meet and become close friends, and the reason so many people have followed our story of combating desertification, is that we share a love for our common home, the Earth, and a shared dream of a greener world," Yin said.

"In this story, Yin is the real protagonist," Sakolsky said. "I also hope this story will remind people that no act of kindness is too small, and no good deed is ever wasted. If you truly believe something is right, then go ahead and do it."

"Goodwill can cross mountains and seas. The green story of the Mu Us Desert continues. Protecting our shared home and advancing global ecological governance remain a responsibility we all share.