File photo taken on April 26, 2011 shows Ma Sanxiao displaying a pair of frayed gloves in a village of Jingxing County in north China's Hebei Province. On average, it takes only 5 days for Ma to wear out one pair of gloves. Getting up before 5 a.m., putting on his prosthetic limbs, an old man with shovel and hoe climbs up the mountains and plants trees in a remote mountainous village in north China's Hebei Province. This is the daily routine for many years of Ma Sanxiao, a retired soldier in Jingxing County of Hebei Province. Ma lost both his two legs due to septicemia. Although in a state of disability, the veteran won't allow himself to remain idle and only wait for help from others. In 2001, Ma began to plant trees on the barren mountains nearby. In the beginning, the old man with heavy debts after the amputation of his legs hoped to earn money by selling the trees. But later, as his situation was improved as the pensions for retired soldiers had increased, he decided to continue planting trees and never sell for money, just let them grow up and improve the ecological environment. "I plant more trees to make the mountains greener. As you see, the straight lines of trees are just like green soldiers of the nature." the veteran said. (Xinhua/Gong Zhihong)
