Torchbearer Yin Yuzhen had the option to run the Olympic torch relay in Greece but chose instead to run it Wednesday in her hometown of Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

"I would really like to visit Greece some other time, but my hometown means more to me than anywhere else," said the 42-year-old, who has become a national hero for battling desertification.

However, the Shaanxi native did not always love Inner Mongolia so much. When she moved to its Mu Us Desert 23 years ago to marry in a sandy dugout cellar at the tender age of 19, it was a desolate and harsh place.

"It was so remote, and there were no plants, animals or any other living thing for hundreds of miles other than us," Yin said. "When the wind blew, sand blanketed the earth and eclipsed the sky."

Anxious about the severe conditions and frustrated by the constant sandstorms, Yin became determined to take action.

"I decided to bring some green into our living environment," she said.

But greening up a desert is not a cheap undertaking. Yin started with buying a lamb and a three-legged goat, and over the next several years, her family devoted most of its income to purchasing saplings.

Over the years, her efforts began to take root. By now, she and her husband have planted more than 300,000 trees, covering more than 4,000 acres .

The trees both beat back the sand and brought more rain.

"When I first came to live here, I would wake up with grit in my mouth and eyes every morning," Yin said, smiling. "Now, only a thin layer of fine yellow dust can be seen on my outside windowsill."

Yin's mission captured national attention in the late 1990s, when countering desertification became a national focus. She went on to become an Olympic hero, as most dust storms that blast the capital originate from Inner Mongolia.

"I really look forward to the day when there are no longer any sandstorms in Beijing," Yin said.

The torch relay will today pass through its last city in the autonomous region, Chifeng, which is the site of China's biggest wind-power field and Keshiketeng World Geological Park.