Beijing, Tianjin to Build Protective Eco-rings

A huge eco-shield composed of five rings of trees and grassland is to be built to protect Beijing and Tianjin from the annual sandstorms in the coming 10 years, according to Beijing Times.

According to the forestry department of north China's Hebei Province, the green shield will be an ambitious undertaking, involving bringing deserts under control; returning vast expanses of farmland to forest and grassland; soil and water conservation; forestation; and protection of forest resources and nature reserves. All this work will require an investment of about 22 billion yuan (US$2.66 billion).

Beijing and Tianjin are both landlocked within Hebei. Currently, Hebei faces an ever-advancing desert constituting 14.5 percent of the province's total land area. Of its 149 counties and towns, 114 are seeing dunes virtually reaching their doorsteps.

The three largest deserts surround the cities of Zhangjiakou and Chengde, and are present on the lower reaches of the Yongding River. These deserts are the arch-culprits, annually dumping hundreds of tons of sand and dust on Beijing and Tianjin.