BY LILLY CHENG

跨越時間與距離，友誼依然延續

In late August 2026, a long-awaited reunion took place in the Mu Us Desert of Inner Mongolia after 26 years of separation.

There was no luxurious restaurant or elaborate feast. Instead, the table was filled with seasonal vegetables gathered locally in the desert and simple, home-cooked dishes. Every dish carried Yin Yuzhen’s heartfelt wishes for her old friend who had traveled thousands of miles to see her.

About the story... ...

One was a woman from rural China; the other, a retired American teacher.

Twenty-six years ago, a $5,000 donation brought together two people who had never crossed paths. After meeting for the first time in 2000, they lost touch. For the next 26 years, one remained in China while the other returned to the United States, each continuing on a separate path.

Then, in 2026, their long-lost friendship was reconnected, and two old friends separated by thousands of miles finally met again. When they stood face to face, the barriers of language and nationality seemed to disappear.

More than a decade ago, I first learned about Yin Yuzhen through a news report. In the footage, she carried tree seedlings on her back, taking one difficult step after another through the endless sand. Her determination deeply moved me and inspired me to meet this woman living in the Mu Us Desert and help more people learn her story.

Through this connection, Yin and I gradually became close friends. Although we have lived thousands of miles apart, we have remained in touch. This time, I also became a witness to and participant in their long-awaited reunion.

Twenty-six years ago, Sakolsky donated $5,000 to support Yin’s tree-planting efforts. The donation not only brought two strangers together but also helped set in motion the planting of trees across the desert.

In the days before their reunion, I spoke with them by video call and offered my blessings. I told Sakolsky that seeing Yin again would be an important moment in his life and encouraged Yin to cherish their long-awaited meeting.

When they finally stood face to face, Ronald Sakolsky’s eyes filled with tears. Yin opened her arms and gave him a big hug.

They did not say much, but that embrace carried 26 years of emotions and longing left unspoken.

Standing on land now covered in green, Sakolsky finally saw how the tree-planting efforts supported by his donation had transformed the landscape. What was once barren land had become a forest.

Twenty-six years ago, they planted a tree together. Today, that tree has grown into a towering tree. Twenty-six years later, they stood side by side once again and planted a new tree.

From one tree to a forest; from a single act of kindness to a friendship that has endured for 26 years—this connection continues to grow on the land.

The story of the three of us is not a dramatic tale, but a warm friendship slowly built through admiration, care, and concern. It is a friendship that has crossed borders and time.

This is a story about kindness, friendship, and human connection—a story of truth, goodness, and beauty that continues to live in our hearts.

⭐Yin Yuzhen: Planting Hope in the Desert

Yin Yuzhen was born in April 1966 in Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province. In 1985, at age 19, she married Bai Wanxiang and moved to the Mu Us Desert. They lived in an underground shelter of less than 4 square meters. Sandstorms, scarce water, and isolation made life extremely difficult. During her first years there, Yin once went more than 40 days without seeing another person.

But she refused to give in. She decided to plant trees.

“I would rather work myself to death planting trees than let the sand bury me.” — Yin Yuzhen

Although she had never received a formal education, Yin drew on what she had learned while helping in her father’s farm. She planted seedlings one by one. When desert winds uprooted them, she planted them again.

She believed, “If 10 trees can survive, then 100 can survive, and 1,000 will survive, too.”

From 1985 to 1999, Yin and her husband planted millions of trees, gradually bringing green to about 40,000 mu of barren land. Her story became widely known as an example of perseverance in combating desertification.

⭐Ronald Sakolsky: A $5,000 Donation

Ronald Sakolsky was born in 1959 in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania and later became a middle school teacher. In 1999, he came to Luoyang, Henan Province, through a U.S.–China teacher exchange program.

One evening, he saw a television report about Yin and her husband planting trees in the Mu Us Desert. Their determination deeply moved him, and he began wondering how he could help.

He eventually found an American organization willing to provide support and donated $5,000 to Yin. After spending two to three months completing the necessary arrangements, he successfully sent the money to Yin Yuzhen.

Yuzhen kept a one-dollar bill as a reminder and used the rest to purchase seedlings.

A year later, Sakolsky traveled to Inner Mongolia and met Yin for the first time.

⭐Their First Meeting: Planting a Seed of Kindness and Hope

In 2000, Sakolsky traveled deep into the Mu Us Desert. The barren landscape and harsh conditions gave him a firsthand understanding of the difficulties Yin had faced.

When they met, Sakolsky ran toward Yin and gave her a typical American hug, surprising her because she had never been so physically close to a foreigner.

With little to offer her guest, Yin prepared a simple bowl of noodles.

Sakolsky watched as Yin planted trees using the most basic methods—making holes in the sand with a stick, placing in fragile seedlings and tying them with twines. .

“Impossible! They can’t survive,” Sakolsky said.

Yin confidently replied, “Possible! I’ll make the impossible possible for you.”

She also told him, “Come back in a few years and see for yourself. I will turn this place into a forest.”

When Sakolsky left, neither knew that their farewell would last 26 years.

⭐My Connection with Yin: Sharing Her Story

I first met Yin in the winter of 2018, when I brought her to the “Shining Stars” event as an international consultant for Shenmo Education. In front of more than 1,000 participants from China and around the world, she shared her story of planting trees and fighting desertification. Her presentation moved many people to tears.

In 2024, she was invited to the One Belt and One Road International Speech, Language and Hearing Conference at Beijing Language and Culture University, allowing more people to hear her story.

Over the years, Yin has received numerous honors, including National Model Worker, National Hero in Combating Desertification, the China Environment Prize, and Green China Person of the Year. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, served as a Beijing Olympic torchbearer in 2008, and received the Outstanding Contribution Award of the Jia Sixie Agricultural Award in 2024. In May 2026, she received the Together We Thrive Award from the Aurora Foundation in Sweden.

Yet beyond these honors, what matters most to me is to share her story.

I joined Shenmo Education, international mountaineer Jerry Kobalenko, and artist Cui Yazheng in creating a bilingual picture book Yin Yuzhen - The Queen of Desert which was published in 2019. Its sequel, Creating Miracles in the Desert of Yin Yuzhen, The of Desert, was published in September 2026.

Through these books,  I hope to continue to  introduce  Yin’s story.   I hope her story can reach more people, especially children who may have limited access to education.

To me, Yin is more than a woman who planted hope in the desert. She is my friend. I affectionately call her “Peach,” while she calls me “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

⭐26 Years Later: Searching for the American Friend

After Sakolsky left China and returned to the United States in 2000, Yin Yuzhen never forgot the American friend who had helped her.

Over the next 26 years, she planted more than 50,000 seedlings purchased with his $5,000 donation. Today, the forest is known as the “Sakolsky Forest.”

Yin always hoped that one day Sakolsky would return and see how the trees they had planted had grown.

Whenever she met visitors from the United States, she would bring out their old photograph and ask:

“Do you know Sakolsky?”

On May 16, 2026, during a tree-planting event in Inner Mongolia, Yin expressed her wish:“I want to find that American friend and invite him to come back and see how tall the trees he helped plant have grown.”

A video recording of her words quickly spread online, and media outlets across China joined the efforts in search for Sakolsky.

A breakthrough soon came.

Bai Fan, the former principal of the school in Luoyang where Sakolsky once taught, saw the reports and recognized this American teacher. With his help, Yin was able to reconnect with Sakolsky.

Just 26 hours after the search video was released, the two old friends, separated by thousands of miles, saw each other again through a video call.

Looking at Sakolsky on the screen, Yin said:

“I am waiting for you in the desert.”

They eventually agreed to meet in the Mu Us Desert in August.

⭐ The Reunion After 26 Years

Before Sakolsky set out for Inner Mongolia, I spoke with both of them several times by phone and video.

I told Sakolsky:

“This reunion will be a very important moment in both of your lives.”

I also encouraged Yin to do everything she could to make sure the two old friends had the chance to meet again.

For more than half a month, Yin prepared for the reunion she had waited 26 years for. She made  a lot of mooncakes, bought a new light-green coat to wear, and gathered flowers from the Mu Us Desert to weave into a garland.

On August 23, Sakolsky departed from Pittsburgh, traveling through Washington, D.C., and Beijing. After about 30 hours, he arrived in Ordos, Inner Mongolia.

Yin was already there, holding flowers and waiting for him.

When they saw each other again, tears filled Sakolsky’s eyes. Then came a long embrace.

That embrace carried the longing and emotions of 26 years—feelings that words could never fully express.

Twenty-six years earlier, Yin’s family had little to offer their distant guest. They could only serve him a simple bowl of noodles.

Twenty-six years later, she prepared the same dish for him again.

This time, however, the flour had been freshly milled, and the cutting board was newly purchased.

The same bowl of noodles, separated by 26 years, became a quiet and touching symbol of their friendship.

On September 1, the two friends said goodbye once again.

⭐ The Story Continues

Yin Yuzhen’s story did not end with this reunion.

Before leaving China on September 1, Sakolsky left Yin a handwritten message:

“Never forget that you are the main character in this story.”

But after witnessing everything that happened, I think that perhaps this time, they were both the main characters.

On September 7, Yin, Ronald, and I spoke again by video.

Yin regretted that their reunion had been brief. Through the video call, she took Sakolsky and me up to the tower in her park, where we looked out over the forest, now lush and green.

We also talked about the second sapling that Yin and Sakolsky had planted together. After Sakolsky left, it rained for several consecutive days. To Yin, the rain was a good sign, giving her confidence that the new tree, carrying the meaning of their friendship, would grow well.

“This must be a good omen,” Yin said.

And this story of friendship across borders and time is still unfolding.

From October 8 to 16, 2026, Yin Yuzhen and Sakolsky were invited to Rome, Italy, to attend World Food Week as guests. Yin will depart Beijing for Rome on the evening of October 12, while Sakolsky will also leave the United States for Rome that day. The two friends will meet again in Rome .

From a single tree in the Mu Us Desert to a story now reaching the world stage, their journey continues.

And the tree they planted 26 years ago still stands on that land, witnessing a friendship that has crossed borders and time.