Prosperous Autumn in the Mu Us Desert

Inthe genre of reportage literature，Looking for the Mu Us Desert：The Green Legend ofa Chinese Desert tells the story of combating desertification in Uxin Banner， Ordos.It elaborately portrays the passionate，creative，and diligent images of Boroldai， Yin Yuzhen，and other heroes of sand control in the Mu Us Desert.The story isacclaimed asa“green legend”of the Mu Us Desert.The work showsa deep concern for the relationship between economic development and ecological protection.

Xiao Yinong

Xiao Yinong isa member of the Chinese WritersAssociation.Hisworksfeature storiesrooted inthefertilesoil of Ordos， Inner Mongolia.Hisworks have won many awards，includingtheLuXunLiterature Prize，theOctoberLiteraturePrize，and the OrdosLiterature Prize for Chinese Writers.

Thelateautumn of theMuUs Desert，withtheclearskyandthe waftingclouds， let one's thoughts travel a long distance.Driving alonga darkdeserthighway，we saw the waves of grass covering thedunestakeonaturmeric color，andtheirtipsfleckedwith athinlayerofhoarfrost.Inthe intenseautumncolors，theMuUs Desertseemedtobecoveredwith a boundlessthick green velvet by oily sand cypress.Mongolian Scotch pinesand Chinese red pineswere green，andwillows and poplartreeswerecovered withyellowor red，holding their heads high in the rustling autumn wind.The late autumn of the Mu UsDesertwas likea boundless colorful oil painting exhibiting before my eyes.

AssoonastheFrost'sDescent drewnear，vegetationstopped growingand the grazingbaninthe UxinDesertwasrelaxed.Thiswas undoubtedlyliberationforhorses， cattle，andsheep.Theherders openedthedoorsoftheirshed anddroveallthehorses，cattle， andsheep that had beenpenned upforawhole springand summer intotheMuUsDesertand grassland.The autumn wind was blowing， the grass was waving， andtheherdslookedlikecolorful clouds floating in the sky.

Thepartof theMuUsDesert inUxin Banner（a prefecturelevel subdivision of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region equal to the level of a county） isalso called theUxin Desert.It covers more than 30，0o0 square hectareson the OrdosPlateau. ItisborderedbytheMingGreat Walltothesouthand isperched inthe southernpartofOrdos，as well asareas of Anbian，Dingbian， Jingbian，Shenmu，andother counties of Yulin City in northern Shaanxi.Theseareaswere once thenomadiclandsoftheOrdos Mongolstribe.

TheUxinDesertwas once synonymouswithpoverty.At the time，peoplemockingly called Ih JuLeague， the predecessor ofOrdosCity，“the12th-Class City，\"meaningitwas ranked at thebottomamongthe12cities in thelnnerMongolia Autonomous Region.Among thebannersof lh Ju League，Uxin Banner，which rankedatthebottomineconomic development，was the poorest.

The Uxin Desert region was not onlyanold revolutionarybase areabutalsoapoverty-stricken area.

Theyellowdesertwasthesymbol of Ordos.Ordos was endless sandsinmy memory.People joked that\"eggs in Ordos have sand in them.\"More than 2OO years ago， an anonymous poet of the Qing Dynasty（1616-1911）wrote apoemdescribingthenatural scenery of Ordos：

\"In Ordos of the sky's edge， the mountainsaresteepandbarren， andthewickersshootlatein April.Day and night，a gust of yellowwind blows.Itblotsout the innumerable flowersof purpleand red in onestroke.\"

Underthissituation，Ordos reallyhadnoriotofcolor.Sand forced people to leave，and fertile farmland wascoveredbydeserts. Yellow was everywhere in spring， summer，autumn，and winter. For years Ihad beenwondering， whenwouldourMuUsDesertbe modernized？When could it get a new look？ Could we do nothing butshowtheworld howprimitive andbackwardwewere？When would peoplewholive herehave nobilityand dignity？

Along the way， the pastkept comingback to me.lwas lost in mythoughts when the driver suddenlyletoutascreamthat startledme.Asllooked，adark shadow whizzed past my eyes，as though it was rushingat me，and myheart palpitated.“Thereareso many pheasants in the grass by the side of the road that theyalmost brokemywindshield，\"thedriver said.“Do you see the swans in the lake？So many！\"

Sureenough，on the south side oftheroad，therewereflocks of white swans floating on the surface of the blue water. They almostcoveredthewater.From adistancecamesqueals.Iknew that they were southbound birdstemporarilyrestingon thisnamelesslake intheMuUs Desert to perch，to gather enough strength.Then，theywould continuetheirflight.

\"surprises\"asme.In the1980s， Wu Zhaojun was assigned to work in the Uxin Banner Forestry Bureauassoon as he graduated from the Agricultureand Animal Husbandry School of Ih Ju League Herememberedclearlythatthe Forestry Bureau Was two rows ofbungalows surrounded by the desert.The sandy road stretched so far that one could not get into the yard of the Forestry Bureau on a bicycle.It needed pushing， and one even had to carry the bicycle into the yard.Wu Zhaojun was22years old then，tall and poised，with thickblack hair，full of youthful spirit and ambition to fightwith the desert.Wu Zhaojun began hiscareer in forestry and desertificationcontrolin the commandorganizationatthe highestlevelthereunderthe siege ofthedesert.At27，hewas thedirector of theUxin Banner ForestryBureau，and thenserved asdeputy director of the Ordos Forestry Bureau.Formore than 3C years，hehadbarelydisengaged himself from forestryand sand control.Speaking of this forestry expert，Uxinpeoplesaid：“TheMu Us Desert turned green，but Wu Zhaojun'shairwasdeserted\"

One dayin late autumnof 2011， Ispentanafternoontalkingwith Wu Zhaojun. He said that during these 3O years，he had witnessed the Mu UsDesert retreatingfrom the city and the Uxin Grassland. People hadbeendrivingout deserts for decades，developing cities，and greeningrural and pastoralareas.Talkingaboutthe vegetation restoration of the Mu"UsDesert，he sighed：“The green intheMuUsDesertisalmostall artificial.Howmuchsweat the peopleofUxinhaveshed！\"

Atpresent，theinnumerable flowershavereturnedtothe Mu UsDesert，and backto theOrdos Plateau.Now，Uxin Banner，a modern town located in the Mu Us Desert，has been recognized by therelevantdepartmentsofChina asthefirst\"Model TownofHuman SettlementsinChina\"and\"China's Famous Green County.\"

Perhaps onlyby blending into the MuUsDesert，and witnessing the disappearance of sand dunes， can you understand what spiritual shock is. Only when you bend down to feel the greatchanges in theMuUsDesertand'search for the reasons behind it，will you realize that 100，000 people of Uxin havewrittena green legend oftheMuUsDesertwiththeir sweat， excellent creativityand passion forabettermodern life.

MyHometownwithEagles Circling on Grey Sand Dunes

TheMuUsDesert，theYellow River，and the WudingRiver

Onesummerday more than 600 yearsago，agroupofnomadic herdersin Ordosdrove their flocks，herds，andhorsesthrough thevastsea-likedesert.After trekkingthrough the desert fordays， theywere tiredand thirsty.The sun was scorching andthesandundertheirfeet Was also boiling hot.A group of lizards，stickingtheirheadsout and lookingaround，performed the difficult skill of holdingtheir bodieswith one clawfromtime to time，changing clawswhen they were about to be burned by thehotsand.Thesmellofdeath emanated fromthedeadsand dunes，piles ofdried grass，and scatteredbones.

Underthe dome of the sky，one still could not see the edge of theboundlessyellowsand.The crescent-shaped dunesconnected like waves rolling to the sky. Peoplewonderedin horror： Wherewas thewaterand the grass？Werewe reallyintheseaof death？Terrorcrept intothe hearts of thepeople.So theyfell to their kneesand prayed insilence.

Some little spring lambswere cryingmournfullyaroundtheirold mom.Thestrandsof herhairwere white with sweat and sticky with sand.She struggled to unhook from the horse analmostshriveled waterbag to give the lambs some water.Othersdissuaded her， saying，\"The sand sea has no end， and thisisyour life-savingwater\" The old mom pulled the plug off thewaterbag，and murmured， \"Thelife ofa lamb isalsoa life！\" Thelambssucked thebagand wagged their little tails happily. The old mom screwed up her eyes and licked her drybloodshotlips.

The dogs，panting and sticking their tongues out from the sand， stirred their nosesas if they could smell something.Then the hairontheirnecksbristledwith excitement.Theybarked and shot intotheyellowsand likearrows.

Theold mom opened her eyesand smiled.The shepherds saw hope. Theyknew that dogs had sensitive noses.Theymusthavesmeltthe mist thathung over the desert. Finally，theherderswalkedinto adesert oasis，seeingan endless meadowinfrontofthem.There Was blue water with waves rippling. Seeing this，people were happywith horses neighing，sheep stamping， andcattle running.Inan instant， thebluewaterwasstirredbythe parched peopleand herds，spraying inall directions.When peopledrank enoughwater， they found it slightly astringent and slippery.They shook theirheadsand called it\"Mu Us\" whichmeansbad water.Theold momtoldpeoplethatitwasbetter than no waterat all.

Sothe nomadssettled down here. Thegreen grasswasdotted with feltbags，likecloudsfloating or white lotus flowers blooming.

Since then，this place got its own name：Mu Us.