Will China’s “green Great Wall” save it from encroaching sands?
A big part of it has just been completed. Its effect is hotly debated
In ancient times the shifting sands of the Taklamakan, a desert in China’s north-western Xinjiang region, swallowed up entire cities. Today they still cause trouble. On the edges of the desert, sand can smother crops, bury houses and block roads. Strong winds can also carry it thousands of miles away to choke the inhabitants of Beijing and other cites in the east.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Trees to the rescue”
From the December 7th 2024 edition
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