Maowusu Desert transformation highlighted by China-US grassroots documentary

People’s Daily has released a video documentary titled ‘A 26-year promise: how a $5,000 gift turned a desert into a forest’. The film documents the reunion of Yin Yuzhen, a Chinese worker, and Ronald Sakolsky, an American visitor, following a donation made 26 years ago.

Two decades ago, Sakolsky donated $5,000 to support Yin and her husband as they worked to plant trees in the Maowusu Desert within China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Through sustained local action and scientific care, the couple helped transform the barren sand into a forest ecosystem. The documentary features Sakolsky’s recent return to China to witness the long-term results of the afforestation efforts and highlights the impact of grassroots people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.