25,000 Cherry trees planted along the road from the entrance to Chin State
Levi Sap Nei Thang
Monday, June 15, 2009
Chin state is known for her unique topography, flora and fauna. As a child, one of my most precious memories is to hear people talk about cherry trees blossoming in Chin state during in sweet December and Christmas. In the last several decades, cherry trees have been slowly disappearing. In our last visit, it is obvious to us there are few cherry trees left on these hills especially along the main road.
On 17 September 2009, my family and I travelled for 10 hours straight from Hakha to Kalaymo to catch a flight back to Yangon to see baby Emma who was by then confirmed with pneumonia.
When we reach Tai Ngen, at the intersection between the road to Falam and the road to Tedim, the day light is clearer and we began to see the beautiful landscape all the way down to Kalemyo. That was a life changing trip for me and my family as we keep calling the Yangon Children Hospital to get baby Emma's update. Many thoughts flood through our mind and prayers and praise came forth from our lips. This is the portion of road in Chin state that we travelled when baby Emmanuel breathes her last breath. When we reached Kalemyo, we received news that baby Emmanuel is confirmed medically dead.
Cheery nursery for plantaion
We are planting 25,000 cherry trees along a 10 miles stretch of road leading from Tai Ngen to Thei Zang. It will cover more than 550 acres of land. This land has been granted to Levi by the State governor and the state agriculture department assisted her to plant these beautiful cherry trees.
Tai Ngen is located 32 miles away from Kalemyo airport. It has an altitude of over 6,000 feet above sea level. From Kalemyo, the latitude rises gradually from 1000 ft to 3000 ft above sea level then from Theizang to Tai Ngen it is from 3,000-6000 ft above sea level. Cherry trees only flourish in sub-tropical climate above 3,000 feet above sea level. That makes the stretch of road between Theizang and Tai Ngen suitable for the planting of cherry trees. We started planting the cherry trees now and they will grow during the rainy season from May to September.
The workers are ready to plant cheery in Tedim Township Chin State
This stretch of road is also one of the main entrance and access road to Chin state. These cherry trees will beautify the entire landscape and provide a welcoming sight to those who will be visiting Chin state.
Myanmar
