by Xinhua author Lu Yifan
URUMQI, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — Li Mingjie, 51, vividly remembers a certain scene from his childhood.
As a child, Li often rode his bicycle to a reservoir on the outskirts of Bole, his hometown in Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Standing on the edge of the reservoir, he surveyed the landscape, which consisted of the vast Gobi Desert with its saline and alkaline patches and withered grass.
Little did he know then that many years later, the desert before him would be transformed into a vast tree plantation covering an area of over 10,000 mu (about 666.67 hectares). The once barren landscape would become a hill covered with vegetation, offering locals and tourists a place to relax in the shade and fresh air.
Li, who works for Bole’s forestry and grassland bureau, recalled that before 2016, when the city expanded southward, large amounts of construction waste had accumulated in the Gobi Desert due to the demolition of buildings. Due to the altitude level, the debris was washed into the Bortala River, which is an inland river, during the flood season, causing pollution.
Occasional windy weather throws plastic waste and dust into the sky, disrupting the daily lives of locals.
“Even when driving, visibility was poor,” he recalls. “When you opened the window, everything was covered in a layer of dust and plastic bags were floating in the sky.”
In order to reverse the situation and improve the city’s ecological environment, the Bole government initiated an ecological cherry-apple park project in 2016 with an expected green area of more than 10,000 mu.
Baika, 53, is an engineer at the service center of the Cherry and Apple Tree Ecopark, which is affiliated with the Bole Forestry and Grassland Department. Born and raised in the city, he has witnessed and participated in this change.
Planting trees in the Gobi Desert was not an easy task, he said. Dry weather, poor soil fertility and large temperature differences between day and night were among the challenges the project team initially faced, according to Baika, who is part of the team.
To select the best tree species that would provide both wind protection and bind sand, the team invited experts to evaluate. They chose cherry and apple trees as the main planting species due to their useful properties such as cold, drought and salt and alkali resistance.
The team also decided to use the on-site construction waste to build a hill and cover it with the accumulated mud from a reservoir, thus improving soil quality.
It was also necessary to secure a reliable water source for irrigation of the afforestation project, Baika said. Using existing canals, the team diverted water from a reservoir about 70 km from Bole and took advantage of topographical differences to allow the water to flow naturally, saving costs.
In 2016, the first year of the project, 120,000 trees were planted, 95 percent of which survived, increasing the total green area to nearly 6,000 mu. Since then, the city has organized voluntary tree-planting events every spring and fall, involving people from all walks of life. At peak times, about 15,000 people gathered at the same time to plant trees in the park.
Baika comes to the park early most days to inspect the trees with other staff. They trim branches, remove weeds, check the irrigation system for proper water flow, and determine if the trees are affected by plant diseases or insect infestations.
However, the tree care work did not always go smoothly.
Last summer, Bortala experienced a prolonged drought with no rainfall, which meant that the reservoir did not have any additional water available to irrigate the eco-park.
“Suddenly the water was turned off for half a month and we were extremely worried,” Baika said. Fearing that the trees they had worked so hard to grow would not survive the dry summer, they carried buckets of water every day to irrigate them.
Thanks to these diverse joint efforts, the total green area of the eco-park now reaches 17,400 mu. According to statistics, eight species of cherry and apple trees and over 20 other tree species such as apricot and peach have been planted in the park. In addition, there are about 120 species of grass and nine species of flowers in the park.
“Many grass species that have not been seen for years are now reappearing,” Baika said, adding that he has also spotted wild animals such as hares and foxes in the park.
In addition, the proportion of days with good air quality in Bole was 89 percent in 2015, while in 2023 the figure would reach 95.1 percent, according to statistics from local ecology and environment authorities.
The ecological improvements have brought other benefits to Bole. Since 2019, a cherry-apple-themed culture and tourism festival has been held for six consecutive years. The park is the main venue and has become a national Level 3A tourist attraction. During the sixth edition of the festival this year, the city received 326,700 tourist visits, an increase of 24.32 percent year-on-year, and achieved tourism revenue of 268 million yuan (about 37.58 million U.S. dollars), an increase of 26.52 percent year-on-year.
Baika said he would continue to protect the park. “As long as my health allows, I will continue to do so,” he said.
(He Xiaohao, Jiang Jingyi and Tong Yu also contributed to the story.)■
