An enemy is turned back - with plants as weapons

Locals join the sand fight in concert with nature and against it

For several decades people who live along the Hexi Corridor in northern China have fought to halt the desert as it spreads, and they have notched up significant victories.

To the eye, the barren landscapes of loess plateau in the city of Lanzhou, Gansu province, were at once grand and heart rending, with an endless string of yellow mountains that Mother Nature seems to have given up on. Long scars formed by water erosion run from the top of the mountains down through the surface, adding to the picture of desolation.