From barren mountain to lush forest in 30 years: Chinese man’s gift to his comrades killed at war

An elderly man in southwestern China has, in 30 years, transformed a barren mountain into a lush forest to commemorate his comrades who died during war.

Liu Changgui, 66, from Luzhou, Sichuan province, has been planting eucommia trees for three decades and has cultivated more than 200,000 trees since, the West China Daily reported.

Eucommia is a small-tree species native to China and valued in traditional Chinese medicine as it is believed to promote vitality and longevity.

“Many of my comrades died for the nation during wars,” Liu told the newspaper.

“They were quite young and didn’t even have the chance to get married. So I thought I should do something to commemorate them as well as to make some profit by growing these trees.