Builders of China's first desert expressway in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province are also creating a parallel corridor - not with sand, stone and asphalt, but with trees and grass.

The green corridor is a barrier to ward off sand encroaching from the desert through where the 116-kilometre expressway runs through.

More than 60 per cent of the expressway between Yulin and Jingbian, two northern cities in the province, lies in the Muus Desert, which mainly covers parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shaanxi Province.

The green corridor was put at the top of the agenda at the start of the road construction because work was being interrupted by invading sand as soon as the project was launched in July 2000. Some sections of the roadbed were buried by sand up to 2 metres deep in some places.

Xue Fagao, a local official in charge of construction, said the government has invested 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million) in the construction of the green corridor. That's more than 2 per cent of the total investment in the expressway.

The green belt is 2 kilometres wide on both sides of the expressway and has already started to take shape. By the end of July, 250,000 trees had been planted.

Road builders are expected to complete the expressway in September 2003. They said the sand dunes along the expressway will be wholly under control by then.

( China Daily August 13, 2002)