By Liang Xiao

‘When the apples in Aksu turn red， the whole countrys apples are ripe.” This is a proverb often quoted by fruit growers in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Apples in other parts of China tend to be picked in August and September， while those in Aksu Prefecture， the main apple-planting area in Xinjiang， are picked at the end of October.

As the temperature there drops sharply in autumn， the sugar inside the apples condenses rapidly， forming the“crystal sugar heart” unique to Aksu apples. In 2020， apple cultivation in the prefecture reached 25，300 hectares， yielding a total annual output of 795，800 tons， and a value of more than 3 billion yuan （$468.9 million）.

Last year， the fruit forest area in Aksu approximated 300，000 hectares， accounting for about a quarter of the total such area in Xinjiang， while the fruit forest industry contributed to around 31 percent of the per-capita net income of farmers. It is hard to believe that just 30 years ago， these orchards were desert.

A harsh environment

“When we were young， the environment here was so bad that no one wanted to come，” said Aziz Hasan， a Uygur bus driver for a local tourism company.

Born in Wensu County， Aksu， in 1974， he told Beijing Review that in the 1980s， the county was often ravaged by extremely strong sandstorms in spring and autumn， with more than 100 dusty days a year. “When the sandstorm came， we all hid at home. It would get pitch-dark， and we had to keep the lights on during the day，” he said.

The source of the storm is obvious. Xinjiang， located in northwest China， is divided into two parts by the Tianshan Mountains， with alpine grasslands sitting to the north and desert to the south of the mountain. Aksu lies between the Tianshan Mountains and the Taklimakan Desert.

According to Li Xinbin， Secretary of the Wensu County Committee of the Communist Party of China（CPC）， the desert was only 6 km away from Aksu， and was advancing at a rate of 5 meters per year.

In this environment， even basic survival was difficult. People of all ethnic groups living there have tried to improve the situation. But a number of greening initiatives over the past two centuries ultimately ended in failure.

Ecological miracle

Nonetheless， people did not give up hope. In 1985， the government decided to build a shelterbelt against the main source of wind and sand in the northeast of the city. The afforestation project， known as the Kekeya Greening Project， lasted for more than 30 years， turning Aksus greening dream into reality.