China’s Desert Workers

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]In parts of northern China, some workers spend entire days planting grass, hammering [music] straw into sand dunes, and carrying seedlings across deserts that used to swallow roads and villages.

[00:00:12]Many of them are helping expand massive anti-desertification projects near places like the Kubuqi Desert and the Taklamakan Desert.

[00:00:20]The work looks dramatic online, but the pay is surprisingly [music] modest.

[00:00:24]Reports suggest many manual laborers earn around 100 to 300 RMB a day, which converts [music] to roughly 14 to 42 US dollars.

[00:00:34]Monthly wages for longer-term workers can range from about $400 to $850, depending on the project and region.

[00:00:42]And this is not easy work. Summer heat, blowing sand, repetitive labor, and remote living conditions are all part of the job.

[00:00:49]Still, thousands continue doing it, one straw grid and one seedling at a time.