Photo Provided to China Daily

The reality proved harsher than He had thought. Sandstorms swept away forestry they had just planted and heavy summer rain and debris filled up fishponds that had just been excavated. The biggest disaster came in 2011 when tens of thousands of brood fish that took decades to breed and millions of marketable fish were washed away in the debris flow, causing losses of at least 160 million yuan to the company.

"I realized that a flood was more horrible than desert. We can never survive as a company if the ecology at large doesn't improve," He says.

His daughter He Yuting was with him throughout the 2011 catastrophe. "I never understood why my father had gone so far to develop fishing in a desert away from home, but after I witnessed how devastated he and his colleagues were after the flood, I came to emphathize with him," his daughter says.

He soon invited irrigation experts and ecologists to Dunhuang to investigate the routes of the flood. A total of 13 waterways, which run more than 90 kilometers in total, were built to divert the flood.

The waterways, built with locally sourced rocks and sand, produce clear water for fishing. More than 20 kilometers of trees and grape yards were built alongside the river, which pushed the desert more than 5 kilometers back.

He is not alone in realizing his dream of building an industry chain that starts in the fishery and goes on to benefit the local ecology and further boosts tourism.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has established a research center in the fishing base to assist and promote the ecosystem He initiated. More than 400 people have come to work in the fishery, and more than 200 have decided to stay in the desert.

"The job is tough but we are seeing more hope everyday. He has been a role model for us with his persistence and down-to-earth attitude," says Sun Huili, who has been working with He for a decade.

Both He's son and daughter have come back to help him after graduating from universities.

"The job is far from done. There are still hundreds of hectares of desert to conquer. We hope the next generation will continue our effort," He says.