Woodland now covers 54 percent of Youyu county, which used to be mainly desert

As needlelike larch leaves fall like golden snowflakes in the mountains of Youyu county, it is hard to imagine the forests are the result of generations of human effort rather than a gift of nature.

Sitting on the edge of the Ordos Desert, in Shanxi province, Youyu was for centuries a barren land suffering from sandstorms and soil erosion, dating back to devastating conflict between government forces and northern nomads during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

According to Wang Degong, former chairman of the Youyu committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, when the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the county's green coverage rate was less than 0.3 percent, with just 5 square kilometers of greenery in an area of 1,969 sq km. Over 70 percent of Youyu's land was desert.

Youyu's first Party secretary, Zhang Ronghuai, spent four months that year visiting the county's 300 or so villages, concluding that: "If Youyu wants to prosper, the wind-borne sand must be controlled. And the only way to accomplish that is by planting trees."

Residents then began their battle against the adverse natural conditions, under the leadership of Zhang and his successors.

Youyu's government officials still take part in tree-planting activities and donate a small portion of their salary - from 300 to 800 yuan ($45 to $115) - each year to afforestation.

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The first years were particularly difficult. Though thousands of people helped with the planting each year, most of the trees were quickly destroyed by sandstorms.

After years of trial and error, the people of the county chose plants with a high degree of drought tolerance, such as Korshinsk peashrub, which could help fix the soil and keep the trees alive.

After China's reform and opening-up began in 1978, the Three-North Shelter Forest Program was launched, with the aim of improving environmental conditions by creating shelter forests in northern, northwestern and northeastern China.

With Youyu listed as a key county for the project, the Party chief at the time, Chang Lu, seized the opportunity to push forward with afforestation, specifically addressing coordination among the agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry sectors, region-specific projects to prevent sandstorms, and the improvement of tree species.

During Chang's eight years in office, Youyu was able to complete the first phase of the program two years ahead of schedule, becoming the county with the largest man-made forest in Shanxi.

The woodland area of Youyu has increased from 250 sq km just before the launch of reform and opening-up to about 1,100 sq km, and now covers 54 percent of the county.

President Xi Jinping has stressed the "Youyu spirit" in several speeches.

In 2011, as vice-president, Xi addressed the opening ceremony of the spring semester at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and said, "What's valuable about Youyu is its solid sprit of self-reliance, hard work and long-term effort, and its political value of always seeking interests for the people."

During an inspection tour of Shanxi last year, Xi said, "The Youyu spirit is a valuable asset, which must be vigorously studied and promoted."

Today, the county has formed a comprehensive shelter forest system, comprising forests of various tree species, shrubberies and grassland. Due to the improving ecological conditions, the survival rate of trees has increased, accelerating the afforestation process.

Its forest landscape has helped Youyu to develop tourism. The number of visitors reached 2.15 million last year, an increase of 27 percent year-on-year, with tourism revenue of over 2 billion yuan, up 25 percent year-on-year.

The county's scenery has also attracted artists and art students. Built on the old site of the Yulin Institute from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Yulin Painting and Calligraphy Institute was founded in Youyu in 2012, becoming the first outdoor painting base of the Chinese Academy of Oil Painting.

In addition, Guo Hu, chairman of the Youyu Federation of Literary and Art Circles, established an art zone in a former grain storage facility in Youwei town in 2016 that is known as "the Youwei art granary".

"In 2017, over 1,000 students came here to paint, and more than 400,000 people came to visit," Guo said.

Contact the writers at chengyuezhu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/28/2018 page7)