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Ordos oasis forms due to two generations' relay for 40 years

Updated: 2023-05-26 (chinadaily.com.cn) Print

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Li Jianguo checks his newly-planted trees in a sand field. [Photo by Gao Jia/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Li Jianguo, 53 years old, has spent 40 years combating sand desertification, turning the area neighboring his home into an oasis.

Li lives in the Otog Banner of the Ordos city in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, located on the northern edge of the Mu Us Desert, one of the four central deserts in China.

For a long time, this area was often covered by massive sandstorms, with an arid climate and rare rainfall, and almost no vegetation.

Li's family had once suffered from sandstorms seriously and later became a family creating "green" in the desert.

"In the past, the ecological environment here was extremely poor. One giant sandstorm could overturn the donkey cart carrying lemongrass and blow away the newly-planted grass seeds.

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Li Jianguo walks through a green corridor built by himself. [Photo by Gao Jia/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

After a night of wind, the door was blocked by sand and could not be opened." Talking about the past scene of sandstorms, Li Jianguo remembered it vividly.

After planting trees and forests with his parents for 20 years, Li and his wife continued to adhere to it for another 20 years, gradually turning their own more than 3,000 mu of sandy land into an oasis, significantly improving the living environment.

Now, walking into Li's sandy land, sand-binding plants such as willows, goat bushes, and Artemisia ordosica can be seen everywhere, and the sand is gradually covered with plants.

Through sand control and soil improvement, sheep raised by Li can raise more than 200 sheep each year. Adding national public welfare forest subsidies and the sale of sand willows, Li's family can earn 200,000 to 300,000 yuan each year.

 

 

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