The Great Green Quest: Across The Sands

From December 2 to 13, the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. China is one of the leading countries in the world in combating desertification. Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program is one of the major ecological projects to deal with desertification in the world. Since its inception in 1978, the project has achieved huge ecological, economic and social benefits, building a “Great Green Wall” in northern China to resist sand storms, preserve soil and water, protect agriculture and promote animal husbandry. This project is not only a strong proof of China’s effectiveness in combating desertification, but also a model for the global fight against desertification and climate change.

In the vast, unyielding deserts, where the shifting sands seem to mock human ambition. The very idea of building railways and roads here once seemed absurd. The ground is too soft to support any weight, and the relentless dunes threaten to bury everything in their path. Yet, against all odds, what was thought unattainable has now become reality.

This is the very first railway to pass through a desert in China. Once predicted to be buried by the sand within 30 years, this railway has defied the odds for nearly seven decades.Back in the 1950s, as China was rebuilding and developing, there was an urgent need for a railway to transport coal, minerals, and other resources from the northwest to the industrial heartlands of the north. The railway was designed to navigate the shifting sands, with ‘grass grids’ used to fix the sand and protect the tracks from desert winds. Far west, the Taklamakan Desert posed an even greater challenge. The Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway, stretching 825 kilometers, now connects Xinjiang’s southern regions to the rest of China.The train soars above the desert, with its tracks elevated to avoid being engulfed by the shifting sands below. The bridge piers are deeply anchored in the shifting sands, providing a firm and reliable foundation.

From the Baolan Railway, to the groundbreaking completion of the world’s first railway loop around a desert, these extraordinary infrastructure projects are more than just routes for transportation. They are symbols of harmonious relationship between human ingenuity and nature’s most challenging environments. With green technologies and human determination, they are turning arid lands into corridors of life, linking the past, present, and future.