Even the sky was yellow when I was a youngster

Twenty years ago, sand was everywhere. The wind was so strong that we could not open our eyes and sand was constantly blown into our faces. It was like being constantly pricked with needles.

There were no roads at the time. Everything was swallowed up by the yellow sand — even the sky. Everywhere you looked, you saw the color yellow. We had to light oil lamps during daytime because the sand clouded the sky, and we jammed our doors closed with sticks at night to stop the sand from pouring in.

I remember nothing about my childhood but yellow sand. When I ate, I tasted sand. When I went to bed, I slept on sand. When I breathed, I inhaled sand.

Crops could not grow. Cattle and sheep did not have enough pasture or water. We were trapped in poverty.

Some people couldn’t stand it so they ran away to big cities to earn a living, but I didn’t believe that we had to live under the bully of the desert for the rest of our lives.

In 2003, I started growing trees in the desert. At first, it was difficult. The newly planted saplings were often quickly blown down by sandstorms. Watering them was also a problem.

After more than 10 years of experiments, I learned how to distinguish which piece of sand was suitable for planting trees, and mastered a unique method of cultivating saplings in the desert. Planting efficiency and the seedlings’ survival rate have been greatly improved.

In 2011, I formed a team of about 60 people. So far, we have planted more than 13 sq km with trees.

Years ago, it rarely rained in our area, but in the past three days we have seen more rain than we saw in a year three decades ago. Several days ago, I saw a fox running in the field — I haven’t seen that happen for a very long time.

Everyone here wants the desert to turn into an oasis, but it will take generations of persistence. I would bring my children to plant trees with me during school holidays. They were terrible at it. I didn’t count on them to plant any trees, but I wanted them to know that it would be a blessing if they did — for their own good and for the good of the entire human race.