Wang Minghai Builds Oasis in Desert

China has deserts that measure 3.327 million square kilometers， accounting for about one third of the country's land area. They exist in northwest and the people in their everyday life in the rest of China are probably not aware of the sandy desolation and potential threats. But in spring time， sand storms are national news， largely because they hit Beijing.

Over the past two decades， China has been waging large-scale projects to curb desert expansion and turn desert into green lands again. Many businesses have been engaged in their own projects. Wang Minghai and his Engebei project stand out.

Engebei is desert in Erdos Highland， Inner Mongolia， China's largest autonomous region. The autonomous region accounts for about 1/8 of the country's land area and sandy lands and deserts account for a quarter of the autonomous region's land area.

In 1989， Erdos Group bought 300，000 mu (20，000 hectares) in Engebei desert for 120，000 yuan in the hope of taming the desert and turning it into an industrial base for its cashmere products. Wang Minghai， then vice president of the group， was charged to execute the plan. In 1994， the 5-year-old 6-milion-investment project was in an embarrassing status: the expected return was nowhere to be seen and the group decided to let go the project. Wang Minghai decided to stay and see the project through. He quit his job at the group and bought out the project with his stake.

A native of Erdos， Wang Minghai knows the local history and its desert. Erdos used to be a fertile pastureland. The ecology began to deteriorate when people came. In the early decades of the 20th century， this part of Erdos was already devastated by desert. From 1957 to 1974， over 100 families in five production teams moved out. Wang knew that the desert could be tamed. He decided to pursue his dream of turning Engebei into an oasis again.

It looked like a mission impossible. Wang and his people persisted. They continued planting trees and grass. They built dams. Deserts pushed in again and again and Wang Minghai and his people pushed back. Gradually and slowly trees and grass took roots and expanded. In the autumn of 1998， a huge flood brought a damage of 2 million yuan to Baotou Steel nearby. But the dams in Engebei withstood the onslaught of the flood.

In the winter of 1998， Wang Minghai suffered a heart attack and was in coma for five days. He survived on his willpower. Seiei Toyama (1907-2004)， a Japanese desert expert， came to visit Wang Minghai at the hospital as soon as he learned of Wang's hospitalization. Seiei Toyama was an international authority on desert development projects. He had helped desert projects in many countries. In 1990， he came to Engebei with a few friends. What he saw touched him: Wang Minghai， covered with dust all over， was working with a team of bulldozers. Wang even did not have time to come over and say hello to the Japanese visitors. That night， Wang and Toyama had a long talk. Toyama was pleased to find that Wang shared his idea of desert development. Toyama provided Wang with useful expertise about tree planting and forest maintenance. With Toyama's instructions， about 75% of the poplars and pines planted survived. These trees have not only helped build up and maintain a favorable ecology but also brought economic benefits.

Toyama gave more than expertise. He brought sophisticated tools and quality seeds from Japan. He even shipped ordinary tools such as spades and nails from Japan. He organized Japanese volunteers every year to plant trees in Engebei. He spent eight to nine months at Engebei every year for more than 10 years.

Seiei Toyama was not the only international friend who helped Wang in his most difficult times. Over years， thousands of volunteers from France， USA， Germany， Austria， Australia， Korea， Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan have come to Engebei and participated in tree-planting projects at their own costs.

Today， Engebei looks like a paradise. The desert area now has 4 reservoirs with a total capacity of 6 million cubic meters of water. More than 3 million trees and hundreds of millions of bushes have been planted and 190，000 mu of desert of the 300，000 are green now. The cultivated lands have spawned a high-tech farming industry which now produces grain， fruit， vegetable， flower， and TCM herbs. A special cashmere sheep species has been successfully bred in Engebei by Xu Rigan， an academician with China Academy of Sciences. Engebei now has the largest cultivation base in China's west where ostriches and peacocks are produced on a large scale with the help of a Guangdong-based business. Farming and industry in Engebei are gradually becoming a system that produces no waste at all. All this is made possible by a system of shelter forest， which enables the Engebei desert development into a virtuous cycle. The national government has recognized Engebei as a national ecology improvement demonstration zone and a national AAAA tourism zone.

Wang Minghai recalls: “there were only four families living in Engebei when I came in 1989. Today， the resident population is more than 4，000 and they work in farming and desert projects and tourism. Many farmers and herdsmen who moved out have come back.”

Wang Minghai is optimistic about the future of Engebei. Desert control projects will continue and green industry will need further improving so as to generate adequate green return and use the income to further promote desert control and make the desert produce more and better. A high-tech project will soon start and it is designed to make the best use of abundant and pure solar energy in the desert area.□