Going through her family albums, memories started flooding back to 86-year-old Gerel of when she started planting trees more than 20 years ago.

In 1998, Gerel, who goes by one name, returned to visit her small home village in Horqin Left Wing Rear Banner, Tongliao city, Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The village was "almost unrecognizable" from what she remembered from her youth, and farmers and herdsmen were plagued by violent sandstorms, she said.

Gone were her memories of galloping horses and herds of livestock rolling through grass meadows, replaced by barren sandy plains, which threatened to bury villagers' farms and houses. Gerel, who had retired as deputy head of the local branch of the People's Bank of China, made up her mind to turn her hometown into an oasis.

In August 1998, she signed an agreement with the village to plant trees on 17 hectares of sandy land free of charge for 20 years. At the end of the agreement period she would return the land to the village.

Heading home

Against the will of her children and mother, she moved from Tongliao to the village with her husband, Undes, then 72, in the spring of 1999 to begin her quest.

"Nobody believed that trees could grow on the sand dunes and my mother told me if I really wanted to help my hometown, I could just donate money to people in need," she said.

"However, donating money can only solve short-term problems. Only by improving the environment, can villagers start to make a living again."

In the beginning, the couple lived at Gerel's sister's house in the village. They would get up at 3 am, travel to the planting area and spend the whole day planting trees. They returned to her sister's house at 7 pm, she said.

The couple dug holes in the sand hills and put saplings and seeds into the holes and watered them.

However, their painstaking efforts and dedication were frustrated by frequent sandstorms. Although the couple managed to plant around 10,000 trees in the first year, most of the saplings did not survive in the harsh environment.

Moved by the couple's determination, local villagers helped them build an 18-square-meter house near the planting area so they did not need to travel every day. "I am a very stubborn person and I do not give up easily," Gerel said.

After the first planting season the couple returned to their home in Tongliao for the winter and went back to the village in spring.