For more than 70 years, three generations of people in the Baijitan National Nature Reserve, Ningxia, have battled desertification, planting more than 40,000 hectares of forest to block winds and stabilize sand dunes. Their efforts have helped curb the southward movement and westward expansion of the Mu Us Desert, making Baijitan a model for desertification control and ecological restoration in China.

Ningxia's transformation of its dry landscapes has also helped shape its wine industry. In the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains, vineyards have become a defining feature of the region, showing another way people are making use of the local environment.

Author & Photos | Huang Xinying