For herder, opportunity sprouts from sand

To raise earnings, Bao learned to plant cistanche deserticola, a holoparasitic plant also known as desert broomrape, near the saxaul. Used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is known as roucongrong, the plant can be sold for a good price.

The first harvest in 2003 earned her 30,000 yuan. "I was so happy, I cried," she said.

More villagers followed Bao Hua, and they set up a cooperative.

"We sold 5 metric tons of roucongrong this year, each kilogram for 22 yuan," she said.

As she does not speak Mandarin, Bao Hua's husband, Shi Mingbin, who works as Party secretary of Shariin Khudag, helps out when needed.

"He helped me write in Chinese, and we planted trees together," she said. "He has always been by my side."

Business opportunities flourished as the environment improved.

In 2012, Bao Hua proposed starting another cooperative to raise sheep for sale.

To ease the villagers' concerns, she invited three households to help her raise 100 sheep she bought, with the promise that the profits would be distributed among them all.

"We are family regardless of our ethnicity, and I hope that the entire village is able to live a life of happiness and wealth, not just me," she said.

With a son and a daughter both now grown up and independent, Bao Hua is free to enjoy life.

But she is still busy every day, getting up as early as 5 am to run errands.