The Spirit of Saihanba

Bearing the mission in mind, working hard, and pursuing green development

The Saihanba spirit refers to the spirit of bearing in mind the mission, working hard and pursuing green development formed by the builders of Saihanba Forest Farm of Hebei Province in the process of building Saihanba.

Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm used to be a desert and sandy land. In 1962, the former Ministry of Forestry dispatched 127 graduates from 24 universities and technical secondary schools in China, together with 242 local cadres and workers in Chengde, Hebei Province, to set up Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm, and they marched into the desert and sandy land.

For over 50 years, the workers of Saihanba Forest Farm in Hebei Province have lived in sheds, drank snowy water, chewed pickles, and had cold meals, demonstrating their revolutionary optimism that “they don’t care whether three meals in one day are tasteful or tasteless, and it doesn’t matter they climb on the ice and lie in the snow, they don’t care cold.” Under extremely difficult conditions, they arduously explored and overcame a large number of technical problems. They finally created a miracle of turning the desert where “the sun and the sky are shaded by yellow sandstorm, and flying birds find no trees for shelter” into a land of “the source of river, the hometown of clouds, the world of flowers, the ocean of forests and the paradise of birds”, making this land of 1.4 million mu (over 933.3 square kilometers) become the largest man-made forest in the world.

Through their actions, the builders of Saihanba have made manifest the idea that green hills and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver, and they have forged the spirit of Saihanba. General Secretary Xi Jinping said, “the whole Party and all of the society must adhere to the concept of green development, carry forward the spirit of Saihanba and persistently advancing the progress of ecological civilization.

牢记使命、艰苦创业、绿色发展

塞罕坝精神是河北塞罕坝林场建设者们在建设塞罕坝的过程中形成的牢记使命、艰苦创业、绿色发展的精神。塞罕坝机械林场原是一片荒漠沙地，1962年，原林业部从全国24所大中专院校调配了127名毕业生，和河北承德当地242名干部、工人一起，组建塞罕坝机械林场，向荒原沙地进军。50多年来，河北塞罕坝林场的建设者们住工棚、喝雪水、啃咸菜、吃冷饭，彰显“一日三餐有味无味无所谓，爬冰卧雪冷乎冻乎不在乎”的革命乐观主义情怀。在极其困难的条件下艰苦探索，攻克了大量技术难题，创造了把“黄沙遮天日，飞鸟无栖树”的荒漠沙地变为“河的源头、云的故乡、花的世界、林的海洋、鸟的乐园”的人间奇迹，使这片140万亩的土地变成了世界面积最大的人工林。塞罕坝的建设者们用实际行动诠释了绿水青山就是金山银山的理念，铸就了塞罕坝精神。习近平总书记说：“全党全社会要坚持绿色发展理念，弘扬塞罕坝精神，持之以恒推进生态文明建设。