--Shaanxi Provincial Model Worker, National March 8 Red-Banner Pacesetter, and Green Medal Winner, Niu Yuqin

On October 15, 1993, in a magnificent palace in Bangkok, Thailand, a common Chinese rural woman was awarded the Y.S. Rao, a UNFAO prize granted to those who have made outstanding contributions to human being's ecological environment. Among three such medal winners that year, Niu Yuqin was one of them. She comes from Jinjisha Village, Dong Keng Town, Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province-the site of the Mu Us Desert.

Ten years ago, 36-year-old Niu Yuqin was just another industrious rural woman of few words. Taking care of a family of seven, including her mother-in-law, who suffered from a mental disease, she, like other women, worked hard to make a living in the desert.

In spring 1985, when the forest contract system was established, everyone in the village was eager to take part. The contract allows those living in the desert to use land for a period of time, if they plant trees and help to make the area fertile. Villagers jump at the chance because they can grow fruit trees or other cash crops and so increase their income.

Niu Yuqin and her husband Zhang Jiawang, enthusiastically signed a contract for fifteen years. Their destiny became entwined with ten thousand mu of desert land. (Mu is a Chinese unit of area equal to 1/15 of a hectare or 1/6 of an acre.)

It was easier said than done. Transforming the desert into forest required an investment of 20,000 RMB yuan (around 2,500 US dollars), an enormous figure to Niu Yuqin. Besides a loan of 4,000 yuan from the bank, she also borrowed from relatives and friends. She taught herself about horticulture, while hiring workers to help her plant the trees. By the time the first lot of seedlings and grass seeds were planted in the sand, Niu Yuqin was already heavily in debt.

Soon the springtime winds and sandstorms arrived and things became very difficult. In one night, the 6,000 mu of seedlings were blown over-many were torn out by the roots. Niu Yuqin, however, was not daunted. Several days later, she decided to try again. The whole family moved to a temporary shed near their plot of land in order to allow more work to be done. Together with workers, she and other family members, worked day and night to dig holes, supply the missing seedlings, and sand them up. Her knees became grazed, and blood oozed out from the cuts on fingers. A month later, 40,000 poplars, 30,000 elms, and several thousand salix mongolica were growing out of the desert. Gradually she has gained experience in tree-planting.

Grass came out of the earth, and buds appeared on branches. However, no sooner had the family finished celebrating than disaster struck. Just when Nui's husband was needed most, he was diagnosed as having advanced bone cancer.

Strong-minded Niu Yuqin refused to give in to misery. She mustered up her courage and tried to help her husband fight the disease. With 6,000 yuan that she had borrowed, she sent him from one hospital to another. However, as her husband's condition worsened, his left leg had to be amputated. On the way back to the forest, with her husband on her back, Niu Yuqin comforted him by saying: "After we make money, I will send you to a big hospital." She was comforting herself as well. In May, 1988, when half of the desert land she had contracted was covered with green, her husband died.

Some persuaded her to sell the forest and settle down. She refused, saying: "This will benefit future generations. Jiawang has died, but our children are still living." To strengthen her resolve in afforestation, she named the forest after her and her husband-Jiayu Forestry Center. With her father-in-law and three young sons, she planted trees and grew grass in the desert sand. Every day, each one of them dug more than 100 two-feet-deep holes and planted over 100 trees. Niu Yuqin made a note with a scrawl: 3,000 mu poplar, 300 mu elm, 240 mu willows, 1900 mu salix mongolica…

Niu Yuqin was near exhaustion; her shoes were worn out; her voice had become hoarse. But she was determined to build a green homeland in the desert. She said: "I cherish only one wish, that is, to turn the whole Mu Us Desert into green."

Ten years have past and now Niu is the owner of 17,000 mu trees. The early trees are now full sized. She kept in mind her husband's last words: "After we earn money from those trees, do not forget to build a primary school in the village so that children can get an education." From 1992 to 1993, Niu Yuqin spent 20,000 yuan building a primary school with eight rooms. The school was also named after her and her husband: Wangqin Primary School. As a result, more than sixty children from the area are now able to go to school.

At present Niu Yuqin's family still lives in their shabby old house, eating glutinous millet and buckwheat flour. But she is no longer just an ordinary desert farmer, drawing water from the well and struggling through life. She is now thinking of building a water tower, erecting power transmission lines, building a road to the forest, running a wickerwork factory, and opening a timber mill. She also wants to make Wangqin Primary School the best in terms of teaching conditions and teaching quality.

At meetings attended by hundreds or even thousands of people, she tells the story of her trees. She said: "What I have done is just a drop in the ocean. Some one asked recently what I would like to do now. I answered that I would continue to plant trees for the rest of my life. My only wish is to turn the whole desert into a green homeland."