Visiting the Frontier in the New Era · Military Camp Open Day | Searching for Green in the Xisha: Military Families Draw Close to the Wind-Resistant Tong Trees
Searching for Green in the Xisha: Military Families Draw Close to the Wind-Resistant Tong Trees
■ Liu Sunbo, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Ge Hanqiang
Military family members pose for a group photo on Yongxing Island in the Xisha.
At the southern end of the motherland, deep in the South China Sea, lies a stretch of land embraced by sunlight and waves — the Xisha Islands. Here, there is not only the azure sea and sky and the blazing sun, but also a group of garrison soldiers who make the island their home. Like wind-resistant tong trees (抗风桐), they drive their roots deep into the reef and sand, standing unbowed through wind and wave, a stubborn patch of green.
On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Navy, a naval unit stationed in the Xisha held a simple yet solemn military camp open day. Military family members crossed mountains and seas to come, walking into the island garrison, into that grove of wind-resistant tong trees, and into the sea of steadfast resolve and forest of conviction that lives in the hearts of the island's defenders. In the tong grove, before the sovereignty monument, and at the story-sharing session, one plain yet burning story after another sketched the truest image of the sentinels at the edge of the world — they too shed tears, they too feel longing, but they remain at their post through wind and rain, and in their hearts hope burns on, never extinguished.
The military camp open day was a journey toward family, and even more a journey toward the soul. Through the tears and smiles of the military families, we see: every Xisha soldier is a tree, every tree carries a stretch of youth, and every stretch of youth ultimately flows into that patch of ever-unfading green deep in the heart's sea. Today, let us walk into the Xisha garrison and feel the fierce and profound love of home and country that the island defenders carry within them.
— The Editors
At dawn, golden sunlight spread across the pier of Yongxing Island in the Xisha. The sea breeze, carrying a salty, bitter taste, swept through the grove of wind-resistant tong trees.
This day was the annual military camp open day of a naval unit stationed in the Xisha. Outside the garrison gate, family members of the soldiers had already been waiting for some time. For this special "camp visit," some had traveled three days by ship, others had taken two connecting flights — all for one shared hope: to see the garrison their loved ones guard day and night.
TAKING ROOT
Every Xisha Soldier Is a Wind-Resistant Tong Tree
Soldiers line up to participate in the national flag-raising ceremony on camp open day.
The family members assembled at the garrison gate, and the first stop of the visit was the grove of wind-resistant tong trees beside the camp.
The visiting group walked into the forest. Beneath their feet was soft sand; above their heads, branches and leaves interlaced. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on everyone.
"Please look — this is the wind-resistant tong tree." Second-Class Staff Sergeant Jiang Yeqing gently stroked the trunk as she introduced this green tree rooted in the island to the group. "The Xisha wind-resistant tong tree symbolizes the indomitable will of the soldiers who garrison the island."
Jiang Yeqing has been stationed in the Xisha Islands for eleven years, dedicating the best years of her youth to the sunlight, blue sea, and beaches here. When she first arrived on the island, this young woman from Hunan was full of conflicting feelings — enchanted by the island's scenery, yet unable to bear the damp salt wind and the scorching sun.
After initial training, Jiang Yeqing had shed several layers of skin from sunburn, and her originally fair complexion had darkened considerably. She would cry quietly under her covers, then the next morning burst out into the blazing sun for training with full energy. Now, in her heart, "Xisha tan" is a kind of beauty — the complexion unique to the soldiers who garrison the island.
As the guide for this open day, Jiang Yeqing told the family members stories of soldiers taking root in the island like wind-resistant tong trees. "When I ran into setbacks, my squad leader would bring me here to water and fertilize the tong trees," Jiang Yeqing said. Later, when she became a squad leader herself, she often used the spirit of the wind-resistant tong tree to inspire the comrades around her.
Jiang Yeqing pointed to a "crooked-neck" tree behind her and said: "The wind-resistant tong tree has a kind of magic — even a broken branch pressed into the soil, as long as we water it regularly, will grow roots and drive them deep into the earth."
A Tibetan female soldier had been following the group throughout the visit. Her name was Danzeng Zhuoga, and her eyes were clear and bright.
"My hometown is on the plateau, but now I can no longer leave the Xisha." A trace of her Tibetan accent could still be heard in Danzeng Zhuoga's speech. She told the family members that when she first arrived on the island ten years ago, her Mandarin was not standard and her technical skills lagged behind.
When things went wrong, Danzeng Zhuoga would often retreat into this grove to sort through her thoughts. Her squad leader, Wang Yali, accompanied her through those difficult days.
Crawling through tactical drills, scaling the high wall — the squad leader trained alongside her; when her arm was injured, the squad leader helped apply the antiseptic; when she was homesick, the squad leader wrote letters home with her; when she failed an assessment and cried in distress, the squad leader sat beside her and passed her tissues. That family-like care let this Tibetan girl feel the warmth of the garrison.
"Like the blazing sun of the island and the deep blue sea, this place nurtures pure and genuine feelings," said Jiang Yeqing. She felt that the wind-resistant tong tree was the patch of green in the hearts of the island's defenders — a distant dream, an emotional anchor, and a source of strength.
When the account ended, applause rippled through the grove. A military spouse stepped forward and asked to take a photo with the two female soldiers: "My daughter especially admires female soldiers. I hope she will be as warm, brave, and sincere as you."
First-Class Staff Sergeant Bao Lei gazes into the distance with his wife and daughter.
The unit has a tradition: the first thing a new soldier does upon arriving on the island is to plant a wind-resistant tong tree of their own. Every year during the discharge season, veterans make a point of coming to this grove — to the place where their dreams began — to water the tong tree they once planted one final time.
The year Wang Yali was discharged, all the female soldiers came together to this grove to see their squad leader off. She stroked the wind-resistant tong tree she had planted years before, her eyes reddening. "I'm leaving — please take care of this patch of green for me," Wang Yali said, her eyes glistening with tears. That moment, Danzeng Zhuoga said, she would carry in her heart forever.
The grove fell quiet for a moment. The sea breeze passed through, and the leaves rustled softly, as if in reply.
"In the Xisha, every person is a wind-resistant tong tree." Jiang Yeqing raised her head, her gaze meeting the gazes of the family members. "When the wind comes, we stand. When the waves come, we still stand here."
Applause rose again — louder than before, and longer. As they walked out of the tong grove, a military spouse took her young daughter by the hand and stopped before one of the trees. She said to the child: "This tree was planted by your father."
The little one tilted her head up toward the treetop and said in a childlike voice: "Mama, quick, take a photo of me with the little tree."
The shutter clicked, capturing that beautiful moment. The military spouse sent the photo to her husband, who was on duty, along with a message: "Your daughter says she wants to be a 'wind-resistant tong tree' when she grows up."
GROWING
In Every Person's Heart, Hope Takes Root
Military personnel and family members visit the Xisha Martyrs' Cemetery.
The second stop of the open day was the Xisha Martyrs' Cemetery, where the heroes of the Xisha Naval Battle (西沙海战) rest in eternal peace. At 10:00 a.m., the visiting family members lined up in neat formation, presented a flower basket, and observed a moment of silence in tribute.
Here, a special video link was about to begin.
On the other end of the large screen was Zhang Xiaowei, a Third-Class Master Sergeant stationed on Zhongjian Island in the Xisha. Due to an emergency assignment, he was unable to come to the open day in person, and his originally planned live account was changed at the last minute to a video link.
This veteran, who has garrisoned the island for twenty-one years, spoke with deep feeling to the family members attending the open day about his "obsession" (执念) — planting a grove of wind-resistant tong trees on Zhongjian Island.
Zhongjian Island is one of the most remote islands in the Xisha; not a blade of grass grows on its white sand beach. He led his comrades in planting trees year after year. When a typhoon came and blew the trees down, they would plant another crop. Over the years, he has lost count of how many trees he has planted; he only remembers that after each typhoon, he and his comrades would right the fallen trees one by one, re-mound the soil, and water them again.
"People ask me, what are you doing all this for?" On the other end of the screen, Zhang Xiaowei's expression carried a stubborn resolve. "My answer is: just to fulfill a green dream. From now on, every year when new soldiers arrive on the island, every one of them will have hope growing in their heart."
One year, a typhoon struck Zhongjian Island and seawater flooded the guard post. Zhang Xiaowei was on duty with new soldier Pan Fei when the water surged in; the two of them blocked it with cotton quilts and braced against it with their shoulders. Sustained by a few bottles of mineral water and a few boxes of compressed rations, they held their post for two days and two nights.
"Xiao Pan, if you're cold, press close to me."
"Squad leader, I'm not cold." In the deep of night, Pan Fei's voice was clear in the darkness. "Standing guard at the forward position of the motherland — my heart is warm."
"At that moment, I thought to myself," Zhang Xiaowei's voice caught slightly, "a tree that falls can be replanted, but as long as the people are here, hope is here."
The family members listened in silence. The cemetery was so quiet that only the sound of the wind remained.
Soldiers hold a story-sharing session.
Leaving the cemetery, the unit invited the family members into the reading room to attend a story-sharing session with the island's garrison soldiers. Everyone sat together in a circle. Corporal Lu Ruifeng spoke first; having arrived on the island only the previous year, his face still carried a youthful, unpolished look.
"What I used to dread most was running laps on the perimeter road," Lu Ruifeng said, scratching his head with some embarrassment. "The first time I trained, I made it to the finish line half-walking, half-running; the second time, I gritted my teeth and ran the whole way, but my time still didn't qualify." Squad leader Li Yang stood under the blazing sun and pulled Lu Ruifeng through extra drills — teaching him his breathing rhythm while playing the unit song "Wind-Resistant Tong Tree" (《抗风桐》) for him to listen to, letting him draw encouragement from the lyrics.
During one duty shift last year, Li Yang and Lu Ruifeng stood watch together for three days and two nights straight. In the dawn as they walked out of the duty room, the sky was just turning the pale gray of a fish's belly. Li Yang clapped Lu Ruifeng on the shoulder, a look of affirmation on his face.
Lu Ruifeng said that in that very moment, a seed was suddenly planted in his heart. "Before, I thought heroes were people who shed blood on the battlefield. That day I understood: guarding every inch of national territory and shouldering a responsibility — that is also heroism."
When the story-sharing session ended, everyone came before the Xisha sovereignty monument. In the sunlight, the seven characters "中华人民共和国" (People's Republic of China) gleamed brilliantly.
"How heavy the motherland weighs in your heart is how heavy the sovereignty monument weighs," Lu Ruifeng told the family members. These words, with which his squad leader had once encouraged him, had long since become his life's motto.
GUARDING THE GREEN
Every Xisha Soldier Carries a Dream in Their Heart
The final activity of the open day was an invitation for family members and garrison soldiers to take a "family portrait" together in front of the sovereignty monument.
Before the sovereignty monument, everyone naturally fell into formation, the deep blue sea stretching behind them.
The photographer raised the camera and adjusted the focus. Just as he was about to press the shutter, First-Class Staff Sergeant Bao Lei's daughter, Bao Yitong, instinctively slipped free of her mother's hand and struck a saluting pose — this warm scene was captured in the photographer's lens.
"When I grow up, I want to be a sentinel at the edge of the world (天涯哨兵), just like my father!" The childlike voice of Corporal Zhang Qiang's son drew a round of praise from everyone.
Military children visit the Xisha Ocean Museum.
The political instructor made a point of coming to join the group photo. He played the unit song "Wind-Resistant Tong Tree" on his phone and said with deep feeling: "Thank you all for traveling thousands of miles to the Xisha, bringing with you your concern and longing, your warmth and family love. Today, here, we invite everyone to share their feelings."
Bao Lei's wife took the microphone, her eyes slightly reddened: "In all the years we've been married, the time he has spent at home with us is precious little. I used to have my complaints, but today, coming to the island and standing before the sovereignty monument, I suddenly feel very proud — proud of my husband."
The mother of Second-Class Staff Sergeant Zhu Qingwen, her hair already streaked with gray, stepped forward and said: "Every time we called in the past, my son, afraid I would worry, always said things were fine here. Coming to the island today, I see that things really are fine here — the great winds and waves have forged him into a true man. As long as he guards this place well, our whole family is at ease."
"People ask me, what has kept you here guarding for so long?" The longest-serving veteran squad leader, Kang Hong, gazed toward that distant grove of wind-resistant tong trees. "Everyone who stays in the Xisha persists because they carry conviction and dreams in their hearts — we have planted our youth here, transformed into wind-resistant tong trees one by one. Perhaps one day we will leave, but our youth will never fade."
A soldier and his wife take a photo on the beach.
The sea breeze passed through, and the tong grove rustled softly, as if murmuring in reply. Bao Yitong tugged at the hem of her father's jacket: "Papa, I want to plant a tree too." The little girl thought for a moment, then pointed toward the distant tong grove and said: "That way it can guard the island together with Papa for me."
The shutter clicked. In the moment the lens froze, everyone's smiles merged with the sovereignty monument standing beside them. The sea breeze carried the laughter far, far away. In the distance, the wind-resistant tong grove rustled on, like a song that will never end.
(Photographs by Zhou Sihong and Jiang Wangyang)