A People's Liberation Army artist finds himself in a book of Chinese art thanks to his inspiration-desert poplars, Jiang Yijing reports. 

When artist Ji Youquan, who works for the People's Liberation Army, first went to Luntai in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region as a tourist in 1998, he says he did not think he would visit the county every year for the next two decades, least of all to make paintings of desert poplars, a member of the willow family.

"It was afternoon and I was on the way to Luntai with friends, when I saw the kind of tree that I had never seen before. My curiosity drove me to get out of the car and take a closer look," Ji, who was born in 1953, says, adding that they later found a Populus euphratica forest.

"The shapes of the trees under the moonlight drove my imagination. I thought some looked like old people while some like animals. The weathered trunks indicated how the trees had withstood strong winds," he adds.

Ji says he went deeper into the forest that day. He didn't return to the car until it was totally dark, making his friends wonder if he was lost.

When he got back to the hotel that evening, he learned that the tree is described as "the most beautiful tree in the world" in the Uygur language. It can survive tough conditions for long periods.

Han people refer to the tree "a hero of the desert".

Ji, who lives in Beijing, has visited Luntai two or three times every year for 20 years since to make ink paintings of desert poplars. He has developed his own style of art around it.