Out of poverty

As Xie and others were fighting against extreme weather to survive, Lin Zhanxi, a professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University and the influence for Professor Ling Yinong in "Minning Town," led a team that traveled more than 2,000 km from humid Fujian to an abandoned cave in Xihaigu's Pengyang county. Carrying with them six boxes of fungus, they planned to figure out how to grow mushrooms in arid areas and begin a rich industry in Ningxia.

"Many relocated residents were concerned with bread-and-butter issues as there was no industry in the newly built village," said 78-year-old Lin. "Therefore we needed to develop an industry that could bring fortune quickly to reassure them as they settled down." Lin decided to plant Agaricus bisporus, a widely cultivated mushroom species with a short planting cycle and significant benefits.

After successful trial planting in Pengyang county, Lin and his team visited Minning in 1998 and designed a semi-cellar mushroom house for the Gobi Desert, which could ensure suitable temperatures and humidity. As the locals had never planted the mushroom, Lin and other team members took the time to teach them, with each team member responsible for 30 to 50 households.

"Under the guidance of experts, I earned more than 7,000 yuan (about $1,081) in the first year," said villager Liu Changfu. "I had never gotten so much money at once. I was very happy."

The Xihaigu people began to put down roots into the Gobi Desert. From grape planting and photovoltaic agriculture to cattle breeding, Minning town gradually welcomed more diversified industries with the deepening of cooperation between Fujian and Ningxia.

The town's annual per capita disposable income has increased from 500 yuan when relocation began to 14,900 yuan last year, when more than 7,000 poverty-stricken households bid farewell to absolute poverty.