Shapotou curbs desertification by making straw checkerboard sand barriers

Gao Yonggui, deputy director of the Zhongwei sand fixing forest farm, checks vegetation along the Baotou-Lanzhou Railway in the Shapotou District of Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, June 12, 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/Lu Ying)