He wanted to linger and study the trees further, but Silverman, concerned about his companion's poor health, insisted they return. After six weeks in China, Chaney had lost 45 pounds and Silverman 22 pounds. However, both men returned home with thousands of seeds in their pockets, and Chaney brought four small seedlings to be planted in the U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden and the Strybing Arboretum in San Francisco. It was after viewing the magnificent trees that had originated from Chaney's hand-carried seeds and seedlings that I began to fantasize about duplicating his challenging expedition and to write about one of the century's most successful preservation efforts. I traveled to China earlier this year on the 50th anniversary of Chaney's journey to learn firsthand how both the people and the dawn redwoods of Shuisaba had fared.
Today there is a drivable road to the village.
Nevertheless, apart from several groups of foreigners who were able to visit Modaoqi to see the type tree, this part of China was essentially closed to outsiders until this year. South of the Yangtze, a translator, a driver, and I traveled through the same mountains where Chaney and Silverman had trekked 50 years earlier. Electricity and television were practically universal. Yet, despite the steady procession of heavily laden cargo trucks rumbling by, the local people were still living as subsistence farmers. Fields were worked with hand-carved wooden plows pulled by water buffalo.