This documentary book with practical significance is a vivid illustration of China’s new development philosophy that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”. Saihanba, dubbed “a green miracle on Earth”, demonstrates China’s strength and wisdom in afforestation, and sets a good example for improving the global environment.
Heroes of China's New Era, an 8-volume book series published by China Intercontinental Press, extols a selection of role models embodying the zeitgeist of today’s Chinese society. The narratives of common individuals as heir to China’s fine traditions present the highlights of a picture showing people’s shared commitment to the Chinese Dream.
This book presents the history of three generations of heroic men and women devoting their youth and life for more than half a century to build Saihanba Afforestation Community, a recipient of UNEP’s Champions of the Earth prize. The stories in this book are an epitome of the 55-year development of Saihanba, showcasing the pioneers’ persistent efforts and miraculous achievements in turning the treeless, sandy wasteland into a vast forest.
About the Author
Feng Xiaojun, a member of the China Writers’ Association and deputy editor of the Ecological Culture journal, has won many awards including the 6th Bing Xin Prose Award and the 3rd Sun Li Literature Award. His works include Don’t Forget This Forest (Bie Wangji Zhepian Shulin), Skipping Stones Across the River (Dazhe Shuipiao Guohe), Essays in the Woods (Linjian Biji), and Beauty in the Folk (Mei Zai Minjian).
Deng Baozhu, a technical supervisor at Disanxiang Forest Farm, was called by his colleagues the “Best Implementer”. Why?
The common practices of most people were to plant saplings and then, if some of the saplings died, replace them with new ones. However, Deng believed that replanting saplings could lead to extra transportation and redigging pit and therefore involved higher cost. But, it was inevitable that some saplings would die after being planted in the fields. What is the remedy?
He believed it was not a small problem when tens of thousands mu of trees were planted across the community each year.
Therefore, he thought about the problem over and over again, and finally came up with an idea. Actually, the solution was not complicated. He required the people working in the fields under his supervision to plant a row of reserve saplings (just like backups in sports games) every ten rows of saplings. The difference was that the reserve saplings should be more robust than the other ten rows of saplings so that they could be used to substitute for the dead saplings and could grow as fast as the other survived. In this way, there was no need to transport saplings from far away, and time and efforts could be saved. Most importantly, higher survival rate of saplings could be achieved.
