X.O

More than three decades ago, a fierce sandstorm enabled Niu Yuqin to fully understand the hardships that can be brought on by nature. Awaking one morning, she found that shifting sands had blocked her doorway, and her family was forced to survive on Chinese cabbage because their crops had been destroyed. Together with her husband, Niu decided to travel into the desert to plant trees in an attempt to prevent the further spread of sand. That was more than 20 years ago, and today Niu is still dedicating her time and energy to this worthy cause. This is her story.

Niu’s entire family has been devoted to tree planting for more than 20 years.

There are three things I couldn't have imagined when I was young," says Niu. "Firstly, I never thought I could become so well-known. Secondly, it never occurred to me that I could go abroad to receive an award from the United Nations. Thirdly, it never entered my head that I could lead such a happy life. When I began to plant trees, I was just looking for a way to feed myself and my family."
A farmer of Jinjisha Village, Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province, today Niu is still planting trees in the Mu Us Desert. Today the most decorated woman in China, Niu is a deputy to the National People's Congress and a National Model Worker. Designated as being among the Top Ten Chinese Women, she was also awarded the National Afforestation Medal, National Model of Women - Red Banner Pacesetters, and the Dr. Leo Prize from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Some think of numbers when they think of Niu. To date, thanks to Niu's efforts, more than 27 million trees have been planted on 110,000 mu of sandy land. If each tree was sold at the price of one yuan, Niu would be worth more than 27 million yuan.

It is common to see a donkey carrying saplings and a child in the Mu Us Desert.

The small Jinjisha Village where Niu resides is located at the border of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shaanxi Province. For many years, more than 2,900 residents in the village have been in a state of fear, for they live at the edge of the terrible Mu Us Desert.
"When I first married my husband in the village, we were very poor. At that time, the only thing on my mind was our survival. To survive, we had to do something to turn the sandy waste into forests and fodder fields. Otherwise, we would be buried by the encroaching dunes," says Niu.
Before her marriage, Niu lived with her parents in Dingbian County, Shaanxi Province. Marrying her husband, Zhang Jiawang, at the age of 19, she moved to Jin-jisha Village and has lived here ever since.
Niu's family was once poverty-stricken. In the late 1970s, Niu's family lived by raising poultry, with an annual income of less than 200 yuan.
After the birth of her three sons, life in Niu's family became even harder, with seven mouths to feed. Every day, the couple took their three young sons to look after sheep in the desert, letting the animals eat whatever they could find. During one of these forages, Niu planted several poplar saplings in the sun-scorched ground.

Niu Yuqin. by Tian Gaoyang

"At that time, our purpose for planting trees was to build a shelter for rest while we herded. I planted several saplings and thought that if I succeeded, I would plant more. Luckily, all these trees survived."
Planting trees brought hope for Niu and her husband. In 1985, with the support of the local government, Niu and her husband signed a 15-year contract, renting 667 hectares of land at the south of Mu Us Desert to plant trees and grass to control desertification. To commemorate the poplars that inspired them in their cause, they named this land "One Tree."
Niu was then only 36 years old. After signing the contract, the greatest challenge of her life began. Stretching 24 kilometers into the desert, the land rental fee for 15 years was 2,700 yuan. Niu's family couldn't afford this sum at that time. Finally, the local government granted her preferential treatment and only charged her 780 yuan.
"I received about 2,000 yuan from the sale of 200 chickens I had raised. It's not a big sum now, but was definitely a big amount then. However, it was still not enough to buy saplings," recalls Niu. She was forced to borrow from relatives, friends, and the local village committee to cover her costs.
Lacking in experience, Niu and her husband didn't know which kinds of trees could survive in the desert and which couldn't, and this limited their choice. The lack of money only exacerbated the problem.
"It was difficult to buy saplings in the beginning for we only had 2,000 yuan. We didn't dare to buy mature saplings because they were too expensive," recalls Niu.

In the earthen jar is the family's lunch.

"Every day we had to carry saplings, which weighed more than 50 kg, into the desert. With the saplings weighing this much, we could only make one round trip each day. Getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning, we sometimes returned home later than 9 o'clock in the evening," says Zhang Lijun, Niu's eldest son.
They also brought with them prepared food and water, including drinking water and water used to irrigate the trees. "We only took one bottle of drinking water. When eating our steamed corn bread, everyone could only have one sip, for fearing of being stranded with no water," says Niu.
In their first season 100 saplings were planted. However, a sandstorm later ruined their efforts. Niu didn't give up, but returned to the forest farm to continue her work the very next day.
"Sandstorms took away all the saplings. The desert had never seen the color green in the past, and we had no previous experience for reference. Nevertheless, trees slowly began to take root, which gave us great confidence," says Niu.
Soon, however, the family was faced with an even greater challenge. Zhang Jiawang, Niu's husband, was found to be suffering from bone cancer, and soon had his first operation.
The surgery put Niu's family heavily in debt. Every day, Niu would walk two hours to the hospital in Jingbian County to take care of her husband, then return to the forest farm to plant trees, and later cook for the entire family.

Niu received the Dr. Leo Prize granted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations from Thai Princess Sirindhorn in 1993.

Physical fatigue and mental stress destroyed Niu's health. She suffered acute appendicitis and was hospitalized in the same hospital as her husband. During her five-day stay, she asked doctors to teach her how to give injections to herself and husband.
Lying on the ward bed, Niu felt that she would be overcome by mental pressure. She blamed herself, "You are so stupid. Your husband and you both fell ill. And still you are planting trees."
However, just at that moment, she heard raindrops outside the window. "I was so happy that I got up from the bed to watch the rain. My saplings were saved," she recalls.
Niu's children didn't know how serious their father's condition was. But they behaved very well, which made their parents very proud. The two elder children continued to plant trees when their parents were still in hospital. Niu once boiled two eggs for her 9-year-old son Zhang Liqiang when the child fell ill, but the boy said, "Mom, don't give me eggs. You can save that money for saplings."
Unfortunately, although Zhang Jia-wang's will for life was strong, he didn't live to see his dream fulfilled. In May 1988 he passed away, leaving his 40-year-old wife, infirmed parents, and three young sons behind.
After the death of her husband, Niu became the backbone of her family. She had an appendicitis operation, and even in the recovery period, she spared no effort to work. Since it was so hard to make ends meet, she hesitated over whether to sell all her trees to give her family a better life.
"People laughed at me and said that I wasn't normal. One local villager advised me to sell the trees and saplings so as to have a more comfortable life. However, I just couldn't do that, for the trees were the result of my whole family's backbreaking efforts, including my late husband, and they were also my children's future. I wouldn't have sold them for 100 million yuan," recalls Niu.
In his last words, Zhang's said that his children must go to school. He asked Niu to set up a school for the village when their tree farm began to make money. Niu herself never went to school, so she knew the importance of learning. When her husband first fell ill and she accompanied him to the hospital in Jingbian County, she lost her way because she couldn't read the road signs.

Niu's family.

Only after she was elected to become a member of the Provincial People's Congress of Shaanxi in 1988 did Niu begin to learn how to read and write. "In the meeting, I memorized the first line of the speech, and later tried to write these words after returning home," says Niu. This was her way of learning vocabulary, and Niu says that her ability has now reached an elementary school level.
Niu's eldest son, Zhang Lijun, stopped studying at the second grade of elementary school, for they couldn't afford the enrollment registration fee. This still makes Niu feel regret today.
For this reason, even at a time when her tree farm wasn't making much money, Niu was planning to set up a school in Jinjisha Village. She knew that this decision would force her family to make an even bigger sacrifice, but was also aware that in the long run establishing a school would benefit the whole village.
Although she dreamed of setting up an eight-classroom school for the village, Niu's income from the tree farm was far from enough. She went to many places to raise money for bricks and concrete. By borrowing 9,000 yuan, she managed to raise a total of 20,000 yuan for the school.
In 1990, Wang Qin Elementary School, the name taken from the last character of Niu's husband's name and Niu's own, was completed. More than 150 village children were able to attend school for the first time.
The classrooms soon became very crowded, which meant Niu needed to collect more money to build a second teaching building. Fortunately, the Education Department of Shaanxi Province and Yang Zhiming from Hong Kong agreed to support her. Seeing Niu's simple and poor life, and touched by her noble-minded action, Yang donated 50,000 yuan.
Niu's family life gradually began to improve, with increasing income from the tree farm and herding. Niu's work to stop the spread of the desert attracted the attention of the local government and environmental protection organizations.
In 1990, Niu was designated a National Model of Women - Red Banner Pacesetters by All-China Women's Federation. On October 15, 1993, Niu received the Dr. Leo Prize from Thai Princess Sirindhorn in Bangkok, Thailand, her first international award.
Receiving recognition for her work, Niu's confidence grew. On April 1, 1998, she signed another land contract for 670 hectares, this time in the Inner Mongolian desert. The new tree farm is named Jia Yu Tree Farm, using the second characters of Niu's late husband's name and her own. Later, Niu was elected as a deputy to the National People's Congress, and traveled to Beijing to attend the Ninth National People's Congress.
In the last several years Niu has lived at her two tree farms, occasionally traveling on business. She has been to the hospital several times due to illness brought on by fatigue. However, she is very proud, having already planted 27 million trees that have halted the encroaching desert. She has also seen fellow villagers answer her call to plant trees and grass. "At first the villagers didn't believe that trees could grow out of the sand, but after three or four years, after they saw with their own eyes that all these trees in the desert could survive, their belief changed," says Niu.
Now, Niu's eldest son, Zhang Lijun, is in charge of the Jia Yu Tree Farm. When more than 20 nomadic families relocated from the mountainous areas of Inner Mongolia, Niu gave them four mu of land from her own for cultivation.
With the growing experience and expertise of her three sons, and increasing support from the local government and fellow villagers, Niu now plans to build a local irrigation system for the growing of potatoes, garlic, and soybeans.
Despite the various hardships of the past two decades, Niu has never once regretted her actions. "No matter how hard life is, or how tired I am, I will never feel regret for what I've done. If you step back when encountering difficulties, you will accomplish nothing. My whole life has been tied up with tree-planting, and I'm sure it will continue to be until the day I die."

 From China Pictorial