The champions of the Earth Awards (地球卫士奖) is the United Nations' highest environmental honor. On Dec 5th, 2017, it {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to China's Saihanba.

    Saihanba is a vast forest{#blank#}2{#/blank#} in Chengde, Hebei. In Mongolian, its name means “beautiful highland”, and rightly so: across the area{#blank#}3{#/blank#} forests and grasslands are around crystal-clear lakes.

    Around the 10th century, Saihanba became a{#blank#}4{#/blank#} hunting ground. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Emperor Kangxi liked Saihanba so much and he once killed 318 rabbits in a single day.

    In 1860, because of a shortage of money, the land {#blank#}5{#/blank#}to the public. In the following years, logging (砍伐) and wildfires destroyed the forest and grassland. By the 1950s, Saihanba had become a barren (荒芜的) land.

    Hard work and efforts{#blank#}6{#/blank#} a national forest in Saihanba started in the 1960s. In 1961, a group of six scientists traveled through Saihanba and studied the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} of growing trees there.

    They finally found one tree standing alone in the vast land, which {#blank#}8{#/blank#}encouraged them. If one tree could survive there, so could millions of others.

    About 56 years later, after overcoming the countless difficulties of planting trees in a very cold place, the barren land is now a vast forest. Today, Saihanba is known as a natural shield (防护){#blank#}9{#/blank#} sandstorms. It is very important for Beijing's water and air{#blank#}10{#/blank#}