Volunteers build green future on sandy land in NW China

Volunteers from Shaanxi Province pose for a photo at the Zhonglin ecological public welfare forest base of Minqin County, northwest China's Gansu province, April 21, 2026.

Minqin, sandwiched between China's third- and fourth-largest deserts -- the Badain Jaran and the Tengger, has 94 percent of its land area covered by desert and desertified land. As a result, it is one of China's major sources of sandstorms.

Confronted with pressing survival challenges and the daunting task of desert control, Minqin County has initiated multiple tree-planting campaigns since 2024. Volunteers from all over China came to the county's Zhonglin ecological public welfare forest base to participate in voluntary tree-planting activities.

From the beginning of this year, the base has gathered more than 30,000 volunteers in Minqin's sandy expanse. To date, they have planted over 1 million drought-resistant saplings such as saxaul, making a green promise in the yellow sands. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing)