As the legendary Chinese tale goes, even the old man people called a fool could move mountains

For many generations, the tale has taught people to be perseverant in the face of adversity like Niu Yuqin, a 58-year-old woman from Shaanxi, of Northwest China.

Helped by her family, the middle-aged rural woman has spent the last 22 years creating an oasis on barren land.

She has helped slow the advancing sands of the harsh environment by planting trees on some 1,466 hectares of land.

Her efforts, which have helped preserve some 10,000 hectares of paddies and grasslands, has earned her honours such as the "Doctor Rao Award" from the Asia-Pacific Office of UNFAO.

But Niu, an ordinary rural woman who never went to school, was modest of the accolade . "I had no big vision for what it would be like in 20 or 50 years," she said.

"I just wanted to fight sand and stopped it from destroying my land."

Niu's hometown in Yulin near the Maowusu Desert in northwestern China had been plagued by sand gales for decades, which destroyed crops, affected quality of life, and caused severe water shortages.

To escape from poverty, Niu and her husband signed a contract for 1,333 hectares of barren sand land in 1985.

Relatives and friends discouraged them, arguing that trees could never survive in the desert.

But Niu was determined, despite harsh times.

She raised money by selling all the chickens, eggs and family belongings to buy 120,000 poplar saplings and tools.

The family was so impoverished then that they even lived on pickles for three months without rice.

Sometimes, the sandstorms would blow down all the trees she had just planted, and Niu had to work all day long to set the trees upright again.

Neither did the death of her husband in 1988 dampen her spirit or hamper her efforts to create her little oasis.

The efforts paid off. And local residents joined in, inspired by this modern-day tale of overcoming the odds.

But for Niu there was no time to rest, even now.

"It needs the unremitting efforts of generations of people to turn the sandy deserts into forests," Niu, whose family help her, said.

China's deserts currently cover 2.632 million square kilometers, or 27 percent of the country's total territory.

"If every Chinese person was to plant a tree and ensure its survival, the country will turn into an oasis in 10 years," Niu said.

In addition to planting trees, the experience in combating sand made Niu realize the importance of education.

She established a primary school with her modest savings in 1991 to give local children access to schooling.

She has also tried to raise the students' awareness of environmental protection by asking them to help her plant trees.

As for the future, Niu said she would introduce modern methods to upgrade her tree species and cultivate more grass to raise livestock.

She also plans to cultivate medicinal herbs, and possibly make her oasis a destination for eco-tourists.

(China Daily 03/17/2007 page3)