In 1954, when Shan Lun arrived in Yangling as a fresh college graduate, he found the place was no more than a backwater village with neither tap water nor electricity.

Yesterday, however, the 75-year-old member of the China Academy of Engineering carried the torch on the first leg of the Olympic relay not through a town in the shadows, but a thriving district that is the only State-level Demonstration Zone of Agricultural Hi-tech Industries in the country.

Shan, who was born in Shandong, is a specialist in dry-land farming who chose to settle in Yangling because he knew it was where he could put his knowledge to best use.

"Despite its backward economic situation at that time, Yangling had a lot of brainpower in the fields of agricultural technology and research," Shan said.

And due to its closeness to the Loess Plateau, which experiences frequent droughts, it was the ideal base for dry-land farming research, which is now very important, he said.

"China relies on its eastern regions for food production, but is looking to the northwest as a backup," he said.

Despite his elder status, Shan continues to work in research and occasionally can be found in the fields lending a technical hand to farmers.

"The arrival of the torch in town is a great encouragement for Yangling people," he said.

"We will certainly apply the Olympic slogan of higher, faster, stronger to build a better future for Yangling and for our agricultural development."

Source: China Daily