NEW FORESTS HALT DESERTIFICATION

Government campaign helps transform barren land

Of the 47,000 most-used Chinese characters, nearly 1,500 have wood as a pictographic component, showing the natural resource's importance to Chinese people's lives and culture.

Paper and printing blocks were made from wood, along with solid buildings that have stood for thousands of years in all kinds of weather. Some old trees have even been worshipped by villagers.