Forestry expert brings new life to previously barren land

More than three decades of efforts have seen Zhang Jinmei bring new life to once relatively barren land in Northwest China's Qinghai province.

Zhang, 57, who is head of the Xining forestry science research center and has been elected as a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, said that a lasting memory from her childhood in the province's Xunhua Salar autonomous county was that it was difficult to find either a tree or a flower.

And when trees could be found, it was clear that the inhospitable environment of the province — known for its cold weather, little rainfall, strong ultraviolet radiation and evaporation — had clearly stunted their growth.