Grasslands, canyons, rivers, sandy lands... In late autumn, the Mu Us Sandy Land, located south of Ordos in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, offers a unique view with vibrant colors.

Mu Us, in Mongolian, means the land where no grass grows. In the past, the surface vegetation was fragile, with scarce rainfall, and as far as the eye could see, it was yellow. However, after several generations of effective governance, it has long since regained its original vitality and become a "green paradise" in people's hearts.

Otog Front Banner, known as the "Southwestern Gate" of the autonomous region, is located in the heart of the Mu Us Sandy Land at the intersecting borders of Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, and Ningxia. In the past, the banner suffered from severe desertification, with sparse trees and little greenery. Today, however, it's hard to find large expanses of desert, and the landscape is covered in a "plaid shirt" of sand barriers, with lush desert plants thriving across the area.

The Mu Us Sandy Land is now covered in a "plaid shirt" of sand barriers. [Photo provided to investordos.goinnermongolia.com.cn]

Sand control has been explored by people living in the desert for many years, including inserting salix into the sandy land in the form of a square lattice, planting sand-fixing plants in the middle, and carrying out comprehensive prevention and control efforts such as enclosure, tending, and replanting.

Generation after generation has worked tirelessly, with each group continuing the efforts of those before them. The land has transformed from "sands advancing, people retreating" to "greenery advancing, sands retreating", turning what was once an endless desert into a landscape shaded by green trees. What used to be lifeless has become lush and vibrant. Otog Front Banner has long been connected to the sands, and it is through these sands that it has found prosperity.

From sand willow plants to a green carpet, from little growth to a land of greenery, from the desert to the heart of revival, and from the awakening of ecological consciousness to the advancement of the Yellow River's Grand Bend battle – Dalad Banner, Ordos, located in the hinterland of the Kubuqi Desert and on the bank of the Yellow River, has also made remarkable achievements in the ecological protection of the Yellow River Basin.

In the early days of reform and opening up, Dalad Banner built a green corridor 20 kilometers long from east to west and 2 km wide from north to south on the sand line from Heilaigou to Xiliugou, blocking the Kubuqi Desert spreading to the north. In this regard, the "lock-edge forest" governance model has become a typical model of desert governance in China.

Since 2000, Dalad Banner has led a vast number of local people in unremitting afforestation efforts to prevent and control desertification, promoting the protection of natural forests, the "Three-North" shelter forests, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei sand source control, and other key national and local forestry projects. Dalad Banner has formed a pattern of desertification prevention and control with diversified investment from the government, collectives, and individuals by guiding all sectors of society to participate in desertification prevention and control.

At the beginning of 2024, Ordos launched the "Photovoltaic Great Wall" project, with the Dalad photovoltaic power generator's leading base in the middle. The green development model of "solar power generation on panels, sand fixation and restoration beneath, and inter-panel afforestation" drives Ordos' efforts in sand control and integrates wind and photovoltaic power.

To bring new hope to the once barren land, Ordos has insisted on continuous efforts in the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and the construction of the "Three -North" ecological project. It has also promoted the transformation and upgrading of characteristic and advantageous industries and finally explored a powerful method for the coordinated development of new energy and ecological protection.