In Hebei Province lies a vast forest called Saihanba. This green Great Wall, at its peak during the Qing Dynasty covered thousands of hectares, had by the 1950s (virtual) disappeared. This allowed sand to blow into Beijing from the northern deserts.
Saihanba is a combination of Chinese and Mongolian, (mean) "beautiful highlands". Until the Qing Dynasty, it was a royal hunting land because of its cool summer weather and beautiful surroundings. However, most of the area had turned into a desert by the end of the Qing Dynasty.
In fact 56 years ago there was only one tree left. But without that tree, there (be) no miracle of Saihanba today. In the early 1960s, over 350 foresters (send) to this area to fight the desert. They were required (rebuild) the forest in Saihanba. Few people, including the foresters themselves, believed they would succeed.
Their doubt disappeared, however, when they found the 200-year-old tree, swaying alone in wind. If one tree could survive here, could millions of trees, they thought.
After decades of hard work, three generations of the foresters have restored almost 80% of the original Saihanba forest. Recently, they were awarded the (high) environmental honor from the United Nations for their great (contribute) to creating a greener world.
