Zhang and other sand-control personnel in Zhongwei have completed afforestation covering 230,000 mu (153 square kilometers), and the forest coverage rate of the city has increased to 13.9 percent.
The establishment of a railway protection system has effectively inhibited sandstorms and improved the local ecological environment. Some 1,663.2 sq km of sand area has been changed into farmland, forming a "green corridor" in the Tengger Desert.
In addition, among the 1.68 million mu of sand at the north part of Zhongwei, 1.47 million mu has been controlled well, roughly 87.5 percent.