Shapotou curbs desertification by making straw checkerboard sand barriers

Zhang Zhishan, deputy chief of the Shapotou desert research and testing station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, checks the cyanobacteria breeding pool in a greenhouse in the Shapotou District of Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 30, 2018. Shapotou, whose name was derived from high sand dunes, is located on the southern edge of the Tengger Desert. For half a century, Shapotou is renowned for curbing desertification by mainly making straw checkerboard sand barriers in large scale. (Xinhua/Cao Jiangtao)