By WEI BO
POVERTY often goes hand-in-hand with a hostile environment. However, in the Kubuqi Desert (the seventh largest in China), a miracle has happened. After intensive scientific management, one third of this vast stretch of infertile land has been reclaimed and is now blanketed with green and criss-crossed with highways. Farmers and herders have moved into new communities, some of them even starting homestays. Boarding schools have been built, meaning that going to school is no longer just a dream for local children.
Dreaming of Reaching out
During spring in Kubuqi, swathes of green are interwoven with expanses of yellow sand. Against the glow of the sunset, what you often see here is not the nostalgic silhouette of camels but the flash of off-road vehicles driving by.
The desertification control efforts in Kubuqi have given local farmers more employment opportunities. Farmer Mengke Dalai even started a tourism business, which has significantly increased his income.
“In the past, going to the county seat took more than a day. We had to cross the desert and the Yellow River. Now we can reach it in an hour or so,” said 38-year-old local Mongolian herder, Mengke Dalai. Roads used to be something he could only dream about.
“Twenty-two years ago, appendicitis struck my father. To undergo an operation in Wuyuan’s county town of Bayan Nur City, my elder brother had to help him cross the vast desert and the Yellow River. They were away for 12 days, leaving me anxious at home. I climbed up a nearby sand dune every day just to try and see something far away. I often dreamed of a road leading to the outside world!” When telling this story he always has to choke back the tears.
Local people had long hoped to see a thoroughfare connecting them to the outside world, but when entrepreneur Wang Wenbiao first proposed building a highway across the desert interior, Mengke Dalai and other farmers couldn’t quite believe it would actually happen. “Back then I was only 17, still a student,” Dalai said. “I didn’t believe it was possible to build a highway in the desert, so I went to the construction site every day after school. Years after the road was finished, I still sometimes thought it was a dream.” Dalai remembers the whole thing as if it were yesterday.
The highway has not only given local people easier access to the outside world, but also brought them wealth. With support from the local government, Elion Resources Group has invested RMB 1.28 billion since 1996 in building five desert highways – a total of 343 km. This laid the foundation for future road-building projects and shaped a daring, hardworking and tenacious attitude towards taming the desert.
In 1996, in an effort to restore the local ecological system, the local government relocated dispersed herders in the desert to a new community built using a corporate investment of more than RMB 10 million. Moving into his new residence in this community put an end to Mengke Dalai’s nomadic lifestyle with no electricity or running water. He started a hostel and, together with five other farmers, bought 13 SUVs, ventured into desert tourism and saw his business boom. His annual income has rocketed from RMB 10,000 to over RMB 300,000. “This formerly desolate and barren land has been transformed into a field of fortune. Now the youngsters, who once left the desert and sought a living elsewhere, have come back. We’ll never have to suffer hardship again!” Mengke said, with an air of assurance.
Dreaming of an Oasis
Aote Genhua, the head of Daotu Village, is nicknamed “Sister Flower” owing to her smiling face like the joyful sight of flowers. The sandstorms that regularly plagued the village are still a vivid memory for Sister Flower. Whenever she left the house, she would always be armed to the teeth with a hat and a mask, even if it was a sunny day.
“Women like to look neat and tidy. My biggest dream is to see the desert transformed into an oasis, so I won’t have to worry about my face being full of sand; and the herders here will have a more stable life,” she said. “When I first heard the news that the government and some company would plant trees here, I couldn’t believe it and thought it was a joke. However, I saw a miracle happen!” A warm and capable lady with a brisk manner, Sister Flower is now an adamant supporter of tree- planting and actively participates in it.
Sister Flower, an ardent supporter of local forestry efforts.
Due to the huge demand for tree- planting, there is always a manpower shortage in spring. Sister Flower recruits around 70-80 workers from Gansu Province every year. Driving off in her SUV to plant trees, Sister Flower is not in a minority in Kubuqi. Actually there are 200 tree-planting teams locally. In 2009, Sister Flower’s team joined the foresting team from the Elion Resources Group. The income of her team has increased from several thousand yuan to more than RMB 100,000.
“We all love the land, and support the foresting project,” said Sister Flower. “Over the past few years, what we’ve planted are not just trees and liquorice plants, but our good wishes to our homeland. To beautify the place with greenery and help local farmers get rich is my biggest dream.”
A New Life
Chen Ningbu is a Mongolian in his late 60s, and was once Party secretary of Daotu Village. Pointing to the low, shabby houses, Chen said, “These are the witnesses of the changes in the Kubuqi Desert. We should preserve them.” The hamlet was once hemmed in by the desert, with sand dunes rising up so high that they dwarfed the houses. A dozen households in the village moved out in succession. For a while, Chen found the idea of moving increasingly appealing.
To tackle the problem, a desertification control company came to the desert. As trees grew, the sand dunes got smaller. At first, local farmers had qualms about the company’s practices. They worried that their land would be confiscated; but the village chief Chen Ningbu understood that to help farmers shake off the yoke of poverty, they had to change their ideas.
In the village, however, even planting a tree or erecting a telegraph pole would necessitate a lot of persuasion. “Barren sandy land is worthless in our hands,” Chen explained. “However, after scientific restoration and reclamation, it can be put to use. With road built and trees planted in front of their houses, local herders will benefit.” Persuaded by Chen, herders gradually placed their trust in the government and the company’s desertification control efforts, and finally became reliant on it. “Now herders often say they owe everything to the industrialized sand-harnessing practices by companies like Elion Resources Group. It’s the reason our lives are getting better and more promising, and our kids have easy access to schools. They hope these people-friendly companies will stay here forever,” said Chen.
In 2013, by renting out his barren sandy land to a company, Chen’s family made over RMB 600,000. There are seven members, each receiving RMB 95,000. This has made it possible for the family to move to a spacious new house and start a new life.
A Bright Future
To eradicate poverty, education should come first, President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed. The desert’s future will be created by the children there, which highlights the importance of education. Education can also help avoid passing down poverty to the next generation.
In the past, it was not uncommon for some children aged 10 and above to have never attended school. Now Yilidongfang School – integrating kindergarten, primary, junior and vocational high school education – has been established in the desert with RMB 110 million in funding from Elion Resources Group. The school houses more than 1,300 teachers and students. More than 3,000 local children have received an education here, and they will become the ones to shape their homeland.
Fear of the desert and attachment to it are instilled in each child in their infancy. Children here have a more profound understanding of the meaning of life. “Whenever spring comes, I feel very happy as I see budding new life. Being surrounded by green is like being embraced by my mum. I can feel the warmth. I hope my mum has changed into a flower or a tree, so that I can feel her in the desert,” said local girl Gao Yang, who was born on the edge of the Kubuqi Desert and lost her mum at a young age. Gao Yang now happily attends the desert school.
WEI BO is a reporter with China.org.cn