"Seventy-five percent of the city's sandy areas were transformed into green areas by aerial seeding," said Shi Changchun, head of Desert Control Research Institute of Shaanxi province, calling the results "a miracle".

Elsewhere, the annual precipitation in Alshaa Left Banner, located at the intersection of the Tengger and Ulan Buh deserts in the Inner Mongolia, was once deemed too low to conduct aerial seeding.

As of last year however, the brigade has sown seeds on about 387,000 hectares, forming a "green belt zone" 3 to 20 kilometers wide that cuts off the connection of the two deserts.

The vegetation brought by the brigade has also boosted related industries, including animal husbandry and tourism. Liu Hongyi, director of a forestry workstation at Alshaa Left Banner, said at the end of last year, all 35 local poor households were lifted out of poverty thanks to the economic benefits brought by aerial seeding.

"The most satisfying moment was when I flew the plane over the former sowing area and saw the lush mountains and trees covering the land. I felt that all the efforts were worth it," Xin said.