Teacher gave a farmer $5,000 to plant trees. She called 27 years later with an update

Since the late 90s, Mongolia, 25.1% desert, came to attention as a shard of treeless steppes. Rivers, lakes, and springs dried up, and natural gas drained from the mining holes that miners punctured to extract copper and gold. Amidst these conditions, a Chinese woman named Yin Yuzhen ventured to transform the desert by planting trees. At that time, an American gentleman donated her $5,000. Recently, she tracked down the man. In a call that has since gone viral, she tells the man that the saplings she bought with his money have now formed a vast, flourishing forest, and he must visit her land to witness it, according to a report by South China Morning Post (SCMP) and an Instagram clip by CCTV (@cctc) on May 22, 2026.

A life of service

60-year-old Yuzhen, who lives in the Maowusu Desert in Inner Mongolia, and is a National Model Worker in China’s State Council, has dedicated four decades to greening the dry, arid patches of the Inner Mongolia desert. She has been attempting to overcome droughts and high winds to plant trees in the Mu Us Sandy Land. She was also recognized by China’s State Council as a National Model Worker for her long-term anti-desertification efforts. But all this activity hasn’t made her forget the man, Ronald Sakolsky, who became the greatest inspiration for her to do this work. At that time, Sakolsky was an English teacher at Luoyang No. 2 Foreign Language School in central Henan province.

Used a reward to buy more saplings

In 1999, when the state media reported her work, Sakolsky was touched and decided to donate the amount. “I have never seen such a big amount of money before. It made me surprised,” Yin confessed, per SCMP. “I used the money to buy more saplings and planted more trees. When Mr. Sakolsky visited me, he saw me planting trees in the desert. Seeing the land filled with yellow sands, he shook his head, saying ‘impossible, impossible’,” she recalled.

Reuniting with the man who inspired her

Over time, she lost touch with Sakolsky, who is now retired. However, with the help of former students and Chinese colleagues, she tracked him down. Bai Fan, vice-principal of the school where Sakolsky taught, called him, telling him that the saplings had grown into big trees. On May 17, Yuzhen and Sakolsky reconnected on a call. “Yin Yuzhen, I can’t even believe that we are talking. I never thought I would talk to her again,” he said.

Yuzhen exclaimed, “The dollars you gave me, I have used them to grow a whole forest for you. When will you come to see it? I really want to see you.” He responded that he would try, and he desperately wanted to plant a tree with her. “I am waiting for you,” she said.

China turns desert land green

According to the State Council Information Office, 53% of China's treatable desertified land has been restored, with a net reduction of approximately 4.33 million hectares of degraded land. China is the first country to achieve “zero net land degradation while reducing both desertified and sandified areas.” In places that were earlier inhabited by sandy patches, now the country is growing medicinal herbs, grasses, melons, walnuts, and forest fruits. China’s green drive has treated 85.3 million hectares of degraded grassland and 33.3 million hectares of desertified land.

After receiving support from Sakolsky, Yuzhen’s efforts for the environment only grew stronger, a pattern often described as “reciprocal altruism.” For Sakolsky, the transformed desert is nothing short of a miracle once thought impossible. 

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