Xinhua News Agency, Chenyang, April 5th Title: Only when the sand is stomped, the roots can be firmer - News of green planting in the Korqin Sand, Liaoning

Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Jiangmin

Wearing a blue headscarf and a shovel in his hand, Sister Liu from Zhanggutai Town, Zhangwu County, Fuxin, Liaoning buried a pine seedling in a sand pit, then surrounded the saplings, stepping on the sand and soil with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and then continued to step on the sand after adding a layer of soil. This is a unique "ritual" for tree planting in Zhanggutai Town, Zhangwu County, Fuxin, Liaoning, the southern edge of the Korqin Sand. The locals firmly believe that only when the sand is stomped, the roots of the tree can be firmer.

Near Fuyuan Village, Zhanggutai Town, Zhangwu County, Liaoning Province, villagers are watering the newly planted saplings. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Jiangmin

The spring breeze is blowing, and it is another year when planting trees. The reporter visited Zhangwu County and saw that a truck full of saplings drove into the depths of the sand. The villagers rushed to bury the pine seedlings into the sand pit, and green patches were spreading layer by layer to the hinterland of the sand sea.

"Look at this pine tree, it took four years to grow so tall." Yang Yuwen, a villager in Fuyuan Village, Zhanggutai Town, pointed to a pine tree that is more than half a meter tall, saying that it is not easy to plant trees in the sand. Sometimes the newly planted trees will encounter drought the following year and can only replant them repeatedly year after year.

There are 6 townships in Zhangwu County bordering the Korqin Sandland in Inner Mongolia. In the past, this area was all large and small mobile sand dunes. It is windy for more than 200 days a year, and the sand rolls on the ground like legs.

Yang Yuwen told reporters: "We are standing at the wind now. We used to stand here for a while, let alone clothes, there was sand in our pockets."

Hou Gui, 74 years old this year, is from Liujia Village, Zhangwu County. Since he was 50 years old, he has planted more than 200,000 trees on more than 2,400 acres of sand. In Zhangwu, there are countless sand control people like Hou Gui who plant green forests in the sand year after year.

Near Fuyuan Village, Zhanggutai Town, Zhangwu County, the machine is drilling holes in the sand. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Jiangmin

Now, more and more organizations and individuals join the desert control team. In 2025, Zhangwu County Senlai Forestry Co., Ltd. undertakes the integrated protection and restoration of 90,000 mu of the three northern sixth phase forest, grass and wet wasteland. "We can leverage the professionalism and high mechanization rate of the team to steadily advance the restoration and forest cultivation of degraded forests." said Li Qiushi, general manager of the company.

You must also get rich by controlling desertification. Chenyang City has combined sand control to build a full industrial chain of Chinese herbal medicines, completing 12,000 mu of newly planted Chinese herbal medicines under the forest in the sand area; Changtu County, Tieling City and Zhangwu County of Fuxin City have developed 5,000 mu of pine grafted red pine; Chaoyang City has developed 25,000 mu of jujubes, 188,000 mu of mountain apricots and large flat apricots, and developed characteristic ecological industries according to local conditions.

The Daguan Group in Fujuchang Village, Dade Town, Zhangwu County, has integrated social capital and adopted a branch + cooperative + enterprise model to lead villagers to vigorously develop the forest economy, build a demonstration base for 100 acres of traditional Chinese medicine planting, and promote the transformation of ecological benefits to economic benefits. It is expected to drive 12 villagers and earn 19,000 yuan in three-year income.

In recent years, Liaoning Province has designated a "thousand-mile sand barrier belt" with a length of 1,044 kilometers. "After monitoring, there are 9 air outlets on this sand blocking belt, and blocking the air outlet is the top priority for turning the sand belt into a green belt." Cong Jian, a staff member of the Ecological Protection and Restoration Department of the Liaoning Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, introduced that this year, the Liaoning sand blocking belt will complete the ecological governance task of forest and grassland, and the governance tasks of the 9 air outlet areas account for 40%.

The sunset plates the pine forest with gold edges, and flocks of migratory birds swept across the freshly green treetops. "In the past, the wind and sand chased people, but now the hares chased the shadows of the trees." Sister Liu said while stepping on the saplings. "Our spring is all like this."