After half a century of drought, an area of wetland has re-emerged in Gurbantunggut Desert, China's second largest desert, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China.  

Covering more than 100 square kilometers, the wetland stretches from Manas Lake to the heart of the desert, and includes eight smaller lakes. Creatures and plants that had disappeared, such as rose willows, Mongolian gazelles and wolves, can be seen again, reported the Urumqi Evening News newspaper.

According to historical records, Manas Lake once covered an area of over 1,000 square kilometers in flood seasons. However, the lower reaches dried out in the 1960s due to the increase of population and farmlands.

Since then, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has been making great efforts to revive the area, including transferring more than 1 billion cubic meters of water to Manas Lake each year. The wetland and improved ecological environment has benefited cities nearby like Urumqi, Karamay and Shihezi, where sand storms occur much less frequently.

The Gurbantunggut Desert is at the heart of Junggar Basin with an area of nearly 50,000 square meters. It is the country's second largest desert after Taklimakan in Tarim Basin, also in Xinjiang, which is 327,400 square kilometers.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2003)