At 2:48 a.m. on August 23, after a flight of more than 10 hours, the American friend "Sacorski" (real name Ronald Sacorski) arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport. Media had been waiting early at the airport exit. As soon as he appeared, Sacorski smiled and walked toward the cameras, excitedly repeating in halting Chinese, "I'm back!"
Speaking about his expectations for this China trip, Sacorski said he wants to see Ms. Yin, see that forest, and meet those students and former colleagues he has not seen in nearly 30 years. He said this return feels like a dream come true, something he never thought would actually happen.
When the plane landed and Sacorski saw the lights of Beijing, he truly realized he had returned to his second hometown. He could not hide his excitement, saying it feels like his second home, a feeling that sometimes truly cannot be put into words.
Asked about the changes in China over the past 20-plus years, Sacorski said he had already seen from photos that the desert of those years had become a forest, and heard that Luoyang is now even more beautiful. In 1999 there were no high-speed trains. "I never imagined that place would truly become a forest," he said. "Ms. Yin is the real hero; I just want to say thank you to her in person."
On the afternoon of the 23rd, Sacorski will fly to Ordos, Inner Mongolia. Yin Yuzhen, a model worker who accepted his $5,000 grant 27 years ago and persisted in planting trees and fighting desertification in the Mu Us Sandy Land, will be there waiting to reunite with him.
In 1999, Sacorski went to Luoyang, Henan, to teach through a China-U.S. teacher exchange program. Twenty-seven years later, a story of "searching for Sacorski" spanning the Pacific reconnected the two. Now, the retired American history teacher has set foot on Chinese soil again, looking forward to seeing that forest and embracing old friends and students once more.
