Magic touch restores 'bald hill'

With determination, man without hands gives mountain a green look

Visitors to Hongqi Mountain in Sanzhou town, Fujian province, would probably be surprised to know the area, currently dotted with fresh foliage, was once barren and dubbed "bald hill".

Still more surprising is the fact that the man who garnished the mountain with greenery has no hands.

Lan Linjin loosens soil on Hongqi Mountain, Fujian province, to plant more trees. Provided to China Daily

Lan Linjin, 52, a resident of Sanzhou, lost his hands in an explosion when he worked in a quarry in Guangdong province in 2002.

Lan leased 151 hectares on Hongqi Mountain and started to plant trees in 2010. Over the years, more than 100,000 trees, including tea-oil trees and camphor trees, have been planted.

Soil erosion in Sanzhou has been serious, and Hongqi Mountain, which features sandy soil, was considered by local people to be infertile land.

"Everyone laughed at me and thought I was insane when I decided to plant trees on that bare mountain, but I have my own reasons," Lan said.

In 1977, heavy rain ran off a barren mountain, causing a landslide that crushed Lan's new house.

Lan, then 15, thought that if there were enough trees on the mountain, another landslide might not be so catastrophic.

"I have since considered a bare mountain as my enemy," Lan said.

It was not a smooth path for Lan. His wife abandoned him after he returned to his hometown in 2002, and the only family member he lived with, his grandmother, was then over 80.

"Initially, I felt I was completely disabled, as I had to be taken care of when it comes to everything, such as eating, bathing and going to the bathroom," Lan said.

He admitted that he wanted to commit suicide in 2003, believing he was useless. "But when I saw my grandma working so hard to attend to me, I told myself that I could not let her down," Lan said.

In 2004, Lan learned to use his arms to look after himself.

"I was like a baby. When I was eating, the chopsticks slipped away and the bowl would be turned over," Lan recalled.

But frequent failures only made him try even harder.

While learning to master using a hoe, Lan severely bruised his chest and arms, which still have thick calluses.

"When people saw me try to manipulate the hoe to remove grass, many would offer help," Lan said.

"I refused because I needed to learn to do it myself. If I receive help, it means I still have to depend on someone."

With his compensation and money borrowed from "everyone he knew", Lan spent about 160,000 yuan ($26,070) building facilities on the mountain and purchasing fertilizer. But he was still short of funds to buy tree seeds.

Luckily, Lan drew the attention of the Changting county government, which in 2010 provided him with free fertilizer and tea-oil tree seeds worth 200,000 yuan. The Sanzhou government helped repair the road and asked Lan to supervise a lotus base, the earnings of which helped cover Lan's daily expenses.

Lin Yufeng, director of the county's water and soil conservation bureau, said Lan is an inspiration.

Chen Shuisheng, a fellow villager, said he regretted doubting Lan when he heard of his plans to plant trees on Hongqi Mountain.

"The 'green cloth' of the mountain proved Lan is a person of possibilities."