Eighty-year-old Su Xiaofan became renowned among local people for his fulfilling retirement life.

Su, who grew up in Jishan county, Shanxi province, has greened more than 300 hectares of barren mountains in the past 18 years via afforestation.

He said he made the ecological decision in 2002 after a sand storm hit his town, where he was enjoying life after retiring from a local cement plant.

"The whirlwind threw sand and stones in all directions and blocked us at home for several days," he said. "It was enough to have had my previous life dealing with sand and dust in the cement plant."

After the storm, Su walked along the mountain road that connected his home with the rest of the world. The surrounding mountains barely had grass or trees.

"A strong determination took root in my head at that moment to green the mountains in my hometown," he explained.

"There will be one day, I hope, that my descendants can enjoy a beautiful view of green mountains from the backyard."

In the autumn of 2002, Su signed a contract with the local government and embarked on his new challenging career with support from his wife and son.

With land covered by a layer of soil with an average depth of only 3 to 4 centimeters, he realized his afforestation plan would not be easy. Lacking power tools, the family used hoes to dig holes on the mountains.

Waking up at 6 am every day, Su said only 20 to 30 holes could be made each day. To save time traveling between the mountain and home, they began taking some steamed buns with them for lunch and have continued to do so over the past 18 years.

Maintaining a high survival rate of seedlings was also a challenge as the mountainous region had no electronic irrigation system.

"Weather reports became the most crucial factor in the afforestation effort," Su said.

"We planted the seedlings days ahead of forecast rain."

However, some seedlings still died due to low resistance to some pests and diseases. Sometimes, a seedling would survive only after being planted six or seven times.

The family's great determination eventually bore fruit.

So far, a total of 333 hectares of mountains in Jishan county are covered by pine, peach and walnut trees.

Apart from afforestation, Su also paid special attention to the protection of local plant species, such as Elaeagnus mollis, a tree under State protection whose leaves and oil have high nutritional value and are a source of traditional Chinese medicine.

"I did some research and found that the weather in my hometown is preferable for its growth," Su said.

After three year's experimenting, he has successfully planted more than 100,000 Elaeagnus mollis seedlings.

In the coming year, he hopes to gain support from forest experts and local government to achieve sustainable green development via afforestation by promoting eco-friendly tourism and the plants' high economic value.

In 2011, the local government designated Su as an "individual model of afforestation".

His efforts have also influenced many people in Jishan, with an increasing number of people joining in the afforestation work voluntarily.

Last year, Jishan had 2,000 hectares of land covered by trees, according to the statistics from the local forestry department.

Another 1,666 hectares of land will be greened this year.

"Through years of practice, we've learned that green mountains and lush waters are our invaluable assets," said Lian Guangfeng, Party secretary of Jishan.

"We will continue our efforts and build the county into an eco-friendly place."