The city of Ordos in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has made significant progress in building green shields in desertified and sandy land along the Yellow River.

Ordos is home to the Kubuqi Desert, the seventh largest desert in China, and the Maowusu Sandy Land. The Kubuqi Desert has a total area of about 18,600 square kilometers.

Over the past 30 years, more than 6,000 sq km of land in the Kubuqi Desert has been turned green due to the collective efforts of local governments, enterprises, farmers, herdsmen, and other organizations. 

The Engebei area of the Kubuqi Desert is a typical example of treated desertified land.

Engebei is located on the northern edge of the middle section of the Kubuqi Desert, just five kilometers north of the Yellow River, with a total area of 200 square kilometers.

Academic circles once stated that Engebei "is a dry and barren land with very low net primary production, and it is a place humans should abandon as it is difficult to survive there."

In 1977, a desertified land treatment and desertification prevention and control station was established.

The sand was made into a dam to intercept mud-carrying torrents and redirect them to dune lowlands. Water infiltrates into the sand and increases its water content, and the sedimentation changes the surface structure.

Since 2012, the vegetation coverage rate in the Engebei region has increased from 5 percent to 78 percent, and the forest coverage rate has increased from 3 percent to 41 percent.

Meanwhile, desert agriculture has been carried out and more than 300 varieties of plants have been introduced for experimental demonstration and achievement promotion. The number of species of animals and plants has increased from 20 to more than 600.

The Kubuqi Desert has become the only desert in the world to be successfully controlled, and it has been designated by the United Nations Environment Programme as a global desert eco-economic demonstration area.

The Kubuqi sand control model was summarized at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification held in Ordos in 2017, providing Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to other desertification areas around the world.  

In addition to the Kubuqi Desert, the Maowusu Sandy Land, one of the four largest sandy lands in China, has also become greener.

In Ordos' Uxin Banner, the Maowusu Sandy Land is covered by 46,600 hectares of cypress, which is currently the best growing, largest in area, and most concentrated and contiguously distributed in China.

It has a significant ecological effect on the Maowusu Sandy Land and is called the "Green Guardian" by locals.

This piece of natural vegetation is capable of water storage, water collection, and water retention.

It supplements and solves drinking water and irrigation problems for humans and animals in the southeastern part of the Maowusu Sandy Land.

It also provides water resources for the Nalin, Hailiutu, and Baihe rivers, and contributes 323 million cubic meters of water to the Yellow River every year, serving as an important water conservation area in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River.