Chen Liying (C, front) and her fellow rangers walk among casuarina trees at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. Early autumn sees millions of casuarina trees swaying gently by the wind at Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County. Behind this lush forest lies sixty years of perseverance by female rangers.
Located at the largest wind-sand outlet in eastern Hui'an, what is now Xiaozuo Forest Farm used to be a barren saline-alkali wasteland back in the 1960s and 70s. The farm was officially founded in 1963 as part of the efforts to restore the local ecosystem.
Twenty young Hui'an women arrived here to plant and protect trees in 1966. They carried fresh water and transported red soil from afar to nurture saplings with great care. Yet every autumn and winter, fierce sea winds would destroy the trees they had worked so hard to grow.
Chen Liying joined the farm in 1972. Bearing maturity and competence beyond her age, reinforced by the legendary diligence that Hui'an women are well noted for, she grew from an ordinary team member into the Party branch secretary and director of the farm.
After years of exploration, Chen and her fellow female rangers pioneered a new method for afforestation, which greatly raised the survival rate of casuarina seedlings. Chen and her team planted 750,000 casuarina trees on this saline land since the 1980s, covering an area of over 1,000 mu (about 66.7 hectares) with a survival rate above 85 percent.
Generations of female Hui'an rangers have miraculously turned wasteland into oasis. Today, the shelterbelt of Xiaozuo Forest Farm runs more than 2,000 meters along the coast, serving as a natural barrier against wind and sand on the county's southeastern shore, protecting nearby villages and farmland. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying (R) and one of her fellow forest rangers walk among casuarina trees at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying (R) shares patrol experience with a newly recruited female forest ranger at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying (1st L) shares her tree-planting stories with newly recruited female forest rangers at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying (2nd R) and her fellow forest rangers plant trees at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 9, 2026 shows female forest rangers walking toward the office compound after work at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
ABOVE: A file photo taken in the 1980s shows female Hui'an rangers digging a pit to plant trees at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province;
BELOW: Chen Liying (1st L) and her fellow forest rangers plant trees at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Photo by Xinhua photographer Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying checks the ducks raised at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying (C) and her fellow forest rangers dig holes to plant trees at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying is pictured at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 9, 2026 shows the office compound and coastal shelterbelt of Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Female forest rangers clear dead branches and fallen leaves at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
ABOVE: An undated file photo shows Chen Liying working at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province;
BELOW: Chen Liying inspects the casuarina tree she planted at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Photo by Xinhua photographer Jiang Kehong)
Chen Liying (1st L) attempts to remove a fallen tree with the help of her fellow forest rangers at the Xiaozuo Forest Farm in Hui'an County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
