Yin Yuzhen waves to Ronald Sakolsky at an airport in Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 23, 2026.

Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky, who once supported China's desertification control efforts, arrived in Ordos on Sunday and was reunited with his friend Yin Yuzhen, a national model worker who has been planting trees in the Maowusu Sandy Land for four decades.

Their story began in 1999, when Sakolsky taught English at a school in central China's Henan Province under a teachers' exchange program between the two countries.

After watching a television news report featuring Yin's tireless work, he was deeply moved and raised 5,000 U.S. dollars to help Yin and her husband in their afforestation efforts against desertification.

The saplings bought and planted with that donation have since grown into a forest of more than 50,000 towering trees. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)