In the vast desert expanses of Qiemo county, Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a team of retired soldiers is transforming sand dunes into green oases.

Despite finding out that "It's harder to plant a tree and keep it alive in the desert than raising a child," Tian Ye, a 50-year-old veteran, along with two fellow veterans, has spent the past seven years planting trees in desert.

Tian Ye (left), a 50-year-old Chinese veteran, plants trees with his teammate in a desert in Qiemo county, Bayingolin Mongolian autonomous prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Su Xin)

"We take care of these trees as if they were our children, and the first batch of saxaul trees are now as tall as an adult person," Tian said, as he drove his battered pickup truck toward rows of resilient saxaul and rose willow trees swaying gently in the morning wind to start a day's work.

Tian's motivation for the painstaking endeavor traces back to his military service, when he first visited Qiemo. "The sandstorms were so fierce that we couldn't even open our eyes. Sometimes the visibility was less than 10 meters," he recalled.

The scenes of locals planting trees in such a harsh environment deeply moved him, planting a seed in his heart for afforestation as a means of combating desertification.

In 2018, after retiring from the military, Tian returned to Qiemo with two fellow veterans, Zhang Hong and Li Ke. Together, they leased over 3,000 mu (200 hectares) of desert land under a 30-year contract for afforestation.

What began as a dream soon revealed itself to be a formidable challenge.

Despite their farming experience, the trio quickly realized planting trees in the desert was a different battle altogether. Before the first tree could go into the ground, they had to flatten shifting sand dunes, build roads, connect electricity, dig wells, and install a drip irrigation network.

Besides being time-consuming and laborious, the process is also costly. They poured their military pensions into the project and took out loans, living in a makeshift 20-square-meter tool shed and crafting furniture from discarded wooden boards.

Worse still, they experienced rather discouraging setbacks during the early stages. Once they planted a batch of saxaul trees, but the next morning, they were all gone—blown away overnight, according to Zhang. "We had to dig new holes and replant the saplings, again and again."

Determined to succeed, the squad consulted agricultural experts, visited successful desert control projects in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and experimented with planting techniques.

Eventually, they developed an east-west row planting method to reduce wind damage, boosting sapling survival rates to over 85 percent.

In the meantime, the team has attracted new members, gradually expanding to a team of 10 members—most of them veterans—earning the nickname "veteran desert control squad."

Their efforts have drawn attention not only for their environmental impact but also for the economic opportunities they've created.

In an effort to further unlock the economic benefits of the woods, they began cultivating cistanche, a valuable Chinese medicinal material, by inoculating it onto the roots of saxaul trees, in 2022.

The herb now yields several hundred tonnes annually, and its processed forms—fresh slices and extracts—are in high demand through partnerships with local businesses.

Over the past seven years, the squad has raised more than 24 million yuan ($3.34 million), planted 11 types of desert-adapted trees and shrubs across 11,000 mu of desert land, and expanded cistanche cultivation to 8,300 mu.

The project now stands as a model of ecological restoration and sustainable development, combining environmental, social, and economic benefits.

The team is collaborating with local authorities on a new desert greening plan this year, with a focus on diversifying plant species.

"If everyone plants a tree and contributes their share, even a sea of sand can turn into an oasis," Tian noted.