Name: US teacher revisits Chinese desert-control project 27 years later
Uploaded: 2026-08-23T05:29:02+08:00
Duration: 1 min 37 s
Description: American former high school history teacher Ronald Sakolsky is returning to China to revisit relationships and a stunning forest his contributions helped to plant in the Mu Us Desert 27 years ago.

Language

RSS

Newsletters

Home

China

World

Politics

Business

Sci-Tech

Health

Opinions

Video

Live

Radio

World Asia-Pacific Middle East Europe Americas Africa

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.

I agree

01:37

American former high school history teacher Ronald Sakolsky is returning to China to revisit relationships and a stunning forest his contributions helped to plant in the Mu Us Desert 27 years ago.

Sakolsky was inspired to contribute to China’s desert-control efforts in 1999 after seeing a news segment featuring Yin Yuzhen, a Chinese desert-control pioneer, while he was working as an English language teacher in the country.

At that time, Yin and her husband had planted about 5,000 acres of trees on the edge of the desert near their home. Deeply moved by her dedication, Sakolsky raised $5000 from U.S. donors for the Chinese desert-control pioneers in 1999.

The small swathe of green Yin started has now expanded to more than 8 million trees, covering more than 11,000 acres of once-barren land.

CGTN America caught up with Sakolsky as he was departing the United States to China on Friday, Aug. 21. He’ll make his way from Beijing to Luoyang, and finally to the Mu Us Desert.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Open in CGTN APP for better experience

Search Trends