Retired US teacher Ronald Sakolsky and Yin Yuzhen visit Luoyang, China's Henan

Ronald Sakolsky tries his hands at a replica set of Bianzhong, or chime bells, a set of ancient Chinese instruments, at the Luoyang No. 2 Foreign Language School in Luoyang City, central China's Henan Province, on Aug. 28, 2026. Retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky, who once supported China's desertification control efforts, and Yin Yuzhen, a Chinese woman dedicated to combating desertification, paid a visit to Luoyang on Friday.

They visited the city's over 1,500-year-old Longmen Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Luoyang No. 2 Foreign Language School, where they met with teacher and student representatives and planted a "friendship tree" on campus.

Twenty-six years ago, while in China on a teaching exchange program, Sakolsky raised 5,000 U.S. dollars to support Yin's tree-planting efforts in a desert. With the funds, Yin and her family went on to cultivate a forest of more than 50,000 trees.

During his current trip to China, Sakolsky reunited with Yin at her home in Inner Mongolia and marveled at the "miracle" she had created. [Photo/Xinhua]