How an American teacher’s $5,000 donation helped turn a Chinese desert into a lush, green forest
- 27, 2026, 5:00 AM EDTHONG KONG — Ronald Sakolsky never thought his money would go this far.
- What was once a vast, dry desert in northern China has transformed into a lush, green forest of 50,000 full-grown trees, thanks in part to a $5,000 donation he made more than a quarter century ago to a local farmer and “sand-control worker” named Yin Yuzhen.
- Sakolsky, 69, a retired teacher from Pennsylvania, was amazed to see the transformation in China’s Inner Mongolia region last month when he visited for the first time in 26 years.
Confirmed
- 27, 2026, 5:00 AM EDTHONG KONG — Ronald Sakolsky never thought his money would go this far.
- What was once a vast, dry desert in northern China has transformed into a lush, green forest of 50,000 full-grown trees, thanks in part to a $5,000 donation he made more than a quarter century ago to a local farmer and “sand-control worker” named Yin Yuzhen.
- Sakolsky, 69, a retired teacher from Pennsylvania, was amazed to see the transformation in China’s Inner Mongolia region last month when he visited for the first time in 26 years.
Sources: NBC News, Times of India