The soil erosion rate in Changting County, east China's Fujian Province has decreased from more than 31.5 percent to 6.78 percent over the past two decades, and the mountains that used to look like giant sand dunes have now turned into an oasis of orange orchards.

Local fruit farmers are wrapping up the year with a good harvest as they pluck juicy navel oranges from the branches. Twenty years ago, that wasn't the case, as there was nothing but barren land back then.

"The sand sparkled under the sun during sunny days, and the temperature would spike to as high as 70 degrees Celsius. It was what we call 'a flaming mountain,'" said Liu Fenggao, a villager from the county's Xiufang Village of Hetian Town.

To improve their life, some locals pioneered building orchards in the place. At first, the progress was slow, but soon things began to change. Some small orchards started to take shape in the 1990s when the then-acting governor of Fujian Province, Xi Jinping, visited Changting County.

During his visit, Xi urged the locals to coordinate agricultural development with the comprehensive management of mountains and forests, especially soil erosion and water loss control. He encouraged them to turn their disadvantage into an advantage to promote the local economy.

Recalling what Xi said to him, Lai Musheng, a villager from Datong Town, said, "He told me that I was doing well with my orchard and I should expand it and plant fruit trees on the mountains. First, this could bring in money. Second, it could help harness soil erosion."

The agricultural strategy developed into a path to rehabilitating the local ecosystem and the wild, and soon the abandoned mountains began to be carpeted with vegetation.

"The project encouraged many people to get involved in soil and water management," said Yushui Huosheng, a fruit farmer from Sanzhou Town. "I had as many as more than 700 mu (about 46 hectares) of land planted with fruit trees, and that was four orchards. By the fourth year, the business brought me about 300,000 yuan (about $47,096) that year."

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