Gurbantunggut Desert
Gurbantunggut Desert locates in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 48,000 square kilometers in area, it is China’s second largest desert and one of top five most beautiful deserts in China. Fixed or semi-fixed sand ridges cover 97 percent of the desert. About 100 plants grow in the desert, many of which are good sand-fixing plants and pasture grass. About a quarter of the annual precipitation falls in winter. There are several thousand hectares of well-protected virgin saksaul forest in the depths of the Gurbantunggut Desert.
The Manas River wriggles its way northwest along the edge of the desert, finally disappearing into the desert. It is the dividing line between desert and oasis. The river has almost vanished, its course intercepted by several dams along its upper and middle reaches. All that now remains of the famous Manas River is just a dry riverbed left as a spillway. The Gurbantunggut Desert is the northwest wind’s masterpiece, the image of the invisible wind on the ground. From west to east, a northwest wind, as wide and as long as the desert, lies in the Junggar Basin. The Karamay Gobi is certainly the start of the Gurbantunggut Desert, as it is here that the strong northwest wind starts blowing up sand and making dunes. There is endless desert, but no high dunes, just an occasional small dune standing on the desert, like a solitary animal facing east.
A Distinct Character-fixed Desert
When the wind blows, it seems to run, but it is still there when the wind stops. But perhaps what we now see is not the one that was there originally. The sand, filling everything between earth and sky, runs and forms the awesome Gurbantunggut Desert not far away. When it reaches the Jiangjun Gobi, the northwest wind is blocked by the Baytik Mountain between China and Mongolia, and turns south towards Hami. The desert expands southeastward, following the wind. Once past Urho, known as the Devil’s City, the wind turns to another famous Xinjiang Devil’s City Longcheng, and enters Lop Nur. The Karamay Gobi and the Jiangjun Gobi represent the head and tail of a huge desert, and the start and end of the strong northwest wind. Several years ago, an oil prospecting team built a road from east to west in the heart of the desert.
Favorable Conditions for Desert Plants
Systematic analysis on the climatic conditions of Gurbantunggut Desert, the soil moisture and vegetation distributions, and the sand surface activities showed that the fixed and semi-fixed dunes are in a comprehensive low-energy wind environment. Snow cover and frozen soil provide a good protection to the ground surface in winter. The temporal distribution of precipitation and 
corresponding variation of temperature create a favorable condition for the desert plants growth, especially for the ephemeral plants. The occurrence of effective winds for sand moving in April to June coincides with the stage of relatively wet sand surface and good vegetation cover, which effectively keep the sand surface stable at the interdune and the plinth of the dunes. Activity sand surface appears only at the crest and the upper part of the sand dunes.