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32-629: Since the fifth century BC Bingzhou had been separated from the Ordos Desert repeatedly by a series of walls that would form the Great Wall of China . In 106 BCE, during the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE – 9 CE), Emperor Wu divided the Han Empire into thirteen administrative divisions, of which Bingzhou was one. Bingzhou covered most of present-day Shanxi and parts of Hebei and Inner Mongolia . During

64-459: A better understanding of how climatic change affects the natural environment. Those writers suggested that the human activities must be carefully managed to meet both human and environmental needs. After 1949, the Chinese government carried out a variety of ecological restoration projects including sand stabilization, irrigation development, afforestation , soil improvement, and transformation of

96-781: A great rectangular bend of the middle Yellow River known as the Ordos Loop . Mountain ranges separate the Ordos from the Gobi Desert north and east of the Yellow River. The northern border serves as the southern border of the Mu Us Desert . The mountain chains separating the Ordos from the central Gobi in the north of the great bend of the Yellow River are: the Kara-naryn-ula, the Sheitenula, and

128-467: A succession dispute among the heirs of the warlord Yuan Shao (d. 202), Bingzhou eventually came under the control of Yuan's rival, Cao Cao (155–220). Yuan Shao's nephew Gao Gan surrendered to Cao in 203, rebelled in 205, but was defeated and killed by Cao in 206, and Bing Province was definitively annexed. Cao Cao moved Xiongnu herdsmen into Bingzhou and the adjacent Ordos Desert . By the 280s approximately 400,000 Xiongnu lived there, who later founded

160-519: A succession of dunes , 12–15 m high. In some places these sand dunes approach close to the Yellow River; in others they are parted from it by a belt of sand, intermingled with clay, which terminates in a steep escarpment , 15 m and in some localities 30 m above the river. Eventually the sand dunes cross over to the left bank of the Yellow River where they are threaded by the beds of dry watercourses. The Yin Mountains, which stretch from 108 ° to 112° E in

192-458: A variety of sand types which are easily moved by the wind. In the south of the Great Wall (see below), sand dunes become more frequent due to damaged vegetation caused mostly by moving sand. Groundwater is present at relatively shallow depth of between 1 and 3 meter below ground level in area between dunes. The annual mean temperature is between 6.0 and 8.5 °C. The mean annual precipitation

224-681: Is between 250 and 400 mm, of which the majority falls in summer. Research in the Salawusu River Area in 1978 delineated the strata of the Salawusu River in the area of the Mu Us Desert. This suggests that the prehistoric climate was mild and wet with numerous rivers and lakes, yet limited plant life and wildlife in the early stage of the Late Pleistocene age. The climate became dry and cold while eolian sand began to accumulate in

256-804: Is in the form of summer thunderstorms . The region has many salt lakes and intermittent streams . Winters are bitter cold, with cold winds blowing into the region from the north and west, and January temperatures ranging from −13 to −10 °C (9 to 14 °F). The vegetation of the Ordos region is made up of montane grasslands and shrublands . Among the sand dunes in the north, shrubs including Hedysarum scoparium and Calligonum arborescens grow in scattered patches. Native grasses and herbs include Bromus inermis , Agropyron mongolicum , A. cristatum , Festuca arundinacea , Elymus dahuricus , Melilotus albus , M. officinalis , Lotus corniculatus , Pugionium cornutum , Astragalus adsurgens , and Filifolium sibiricum . The belt of sand and clay which separates

288-638: The Cultural Revolution , during which the thin line of fragile vegetation separating the Kubuqi and Maowusu deserts was destroyed. Subsequent pressure of population and the increase in sheep/goats/cattle further damaged the already weakened local environment to the point of no return, and as a result, the two deserts finally linked up in the 1990s, forming the larger current-day Ordos. The alkaline soil allows for some nomadic Mongol herders to raise sheep and goats . Heavy grazing by goats has done damage to

320-574: The Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) Bingzhou's capital was designated in Jinyang County (晉陽縣; present-day Jinyuan District , Taiyuan , Shanxi), and the regions under its jurisdiction included most of present-day Shanxi, northern Shaanxi and parts of Inner Mongolia. In 213 Bingzhou was absorbed into another administrative division, Jizhou (or Ji Province). Near the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, during

352-567: The Kubuqi Desert , in the north; and China's 8th-largest desert, the Mu Us Desert , in the south. Wedged between the arable Hetao region to the north and the Loess Plateau to the south, the soil of the Ordos Desert is mostly a mixture of dry clay and sand , and as a result is poorly suited for agriculture . The Ordos Desert is almost completely encircled in the west, north and east by

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384-574: The Maowusu Desert ( simplified Chinese : 毛乌素沙漠 ; traditional Chinese : 毛烏素沙漠 ; pinyin : Máowūsù Shāmò ), is a desert in the northern Ordos Plateau in Inner Mongolia , Northwest China . Its southeastern end is crossed by the Ming Great Wall , and it forms the southern portion of the Ordos Desert . The Wuding River drains the area, and then flows into the Ordos Loop of

416-605: The Yellow River . Confusion exists about where the Ordos Desert begins and where the Mu Us Desert ends. The Ordos comprises two sub-deserts: the Kubuqi Desert in the north east; and the Mu Us Desert in the south. The northern portion goes by another name—for example, a map in Julia Lovell 's book The Great Wall: China Against the World 1000 BC–2000 AD shows the Ordos Desert only in the portion of Inner Mongolia which lies south of

448-534: The Yellow River . Several research papers cited below claim that the Mu Us Desert includes part of Shaanxi and Gansu . A clear delineation of the area is still needed here, based on multiple sources. The Mu Us Desert of north central China lies at 37°30'–39°20'N,107°20'–111°30'E and covers 48,288 km . As part of the Ordos Plateau , the elevation ranges from 1,000m to 1,300m (as low as 950m in some south-eastern valleys, and reaching between 1,400m to 1,600m in

480-605: The Yin Mountains , which link on to the south end of the Greater Khingan Mountains . In the south and east, the Great Wall of China separates the Ordos from fertile loess lands. The Ordos covers the southern section of Inner Mongolia , an Autonomous Region of China ; Ningxia , an Autonomous Entity of China ; and the Chinese Provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu . The Ordos Desert forms an intermediate step in

512-471: The monsoonal rains that reached the Loess Plateau in the modern era pushed the desert back to the Yellow River. Since then, overgrazing at various periods and in the modern period, the lack of rainfall, has resulted in a return to desert conditions. However, the most disastrous damage to the environment was caused by the political movements launched by Mao Zedong , namely the Great Leap Forward and

544-649: The Ordos region were He-tau and – later – He-nan ("the country south of the river"). It was occupied by horse nomads for many centuries, and these were very often at war with China. In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, it was occupied by the Xiongnu . It was almost depopulated during and after the Dungan revolt of 1869. This region was a desert during the Late Glacial Maximum . During the Holocene Climatic Optimum

576-630: The Qin were especially threatening, although the Qin dynasty also are reported to have done wall building in the area. Later in history, the Qin dominated all of this area and built walls. In 129 BC, the Han dynasty gained control of the area and strengthened the walls although they were still fighting to maintain control in AD 45. Much later, the Ming dynasty portion of the Great Wall crossed

608-782: The areas it covered were mainly in present-day southwestern Shanxi. Bingzhou was abolished in 399. Ordos Desert The Ordos Desert ( simplified Chinese : 鄂 尔 多 斯 沙 漠 ; traditional Chinese : 鄂爾多斯沙漠 ; pinyin : È'ěrduōsī Shāmò ) is a desert / steppe region in Northwest China , administered under the prefecture of Ordos City in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (centered ca. 39°N 109°E  /  39°N 109°E  / 39; 109 ). It extends over an area of approximately 90,650 km (35,000 sq mi), and comprises two sub-deserts: China's 7th-largest desert,

640-425: The current high levels of grazing pressure . During a 35-year period from the 1950s to the 1990s, its landscapes changed significantly. In most of the desert, desertification developed rapidly, swallowing grassland, while marginal areas in the east and south were restored to some extent. By the late 1990s, shifting and semi-fixed deserts covered 45% and 21% of the Mu Us Desert, while fixed desert decreased by 7.2% of

672-577: The descent from the Himalayas to the lowlands of eastern China . Towards the south it rises to an altitude of over 1,500 m, and in the west, along the right bank of the Yellow River , the Arbus or Arbiso Mountains, which overlie the steppe by some 900 m, serve to link the Helan Mountains with the Yin Mountains . The northern part of the great bend of the Yellow River is filled with the sands of Kuzupchi River,

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704-465: The desert with remarkable results. A 2017 study marked that desertification was controlled, but that the area was still at risk for new desertification in the future, as a result of grassland reclamation and groundwater consumption. As early as 453 BC, the Yiju people built a double wall in the southern region of the Mu Us Desert to protect themselves against the northernmost Chinese states. Of these states,

736-658: The entire desert. Desertification was much more severe in the middle and north-west pasture land areas than in the eastern and southern areas of farmland and pasture. Overuse, overgrazing , and overcutting have been the main causes of desertification. Meanwhile, woodland area increased between 1965 and 2010. As a result of the Grain for Green policy, after 2000, the area of cultivated land was decreased. To rehabilitate desertified land, Dong, et al. recommended abandoning unsustainable land management practices in 1982, referring to them as "the current irrational human activities" and gaining

768-737: The formation of shifting sands as well as the fixation and reduction of dunes. As early as 218 BC, grazing was the main way of life for local people. The Mu Us Desert lies in a transition zone where areas of both pastoral land and farmland co-exist. Based on remote sensing data, rangeland has experienced an increase in both total biomass and number of grazing animals. Active measures which have been taken to limit desertification have resulted in increased vegetation cover and lowered potential for wind erosion. The increase in biomass resulted in an increase in both grazing and farmland production. The area under cultivation increased fivefold from 1978 to 1996. The grasslands seem to be thriving under

800-451: The grasslands in the region and led to desertification . The oasis in the region support small-scale farming . The area contains large soda deposits which are heavily mined . Attribution: 39°35′17″N 109°43′37″E  /  39.588°N 109.727°E  / 39.588; 109.727 Mu Us Desert The Mu Us Desert ( Mongolian : ᠮᠠᠭᠤ ᠤᠰᠤ magu usu Ordos : [mʊː ʊsʊ̆] "bad (lacking) water"), also known as

832-598: The later stage of the Late Pleistocene age. The climate changed again to mild and wet early in the Holocene Epoch as lakes with marsh sediments formed. Later, the climate changed back to dry and cold, allowing a semi-arid steppe landscape to form. These climatic fluctuations were caused by the glacial and interglacial periods of the Northern Hemisphere . The Mu Us Desert underwent a series of changes, including

864-556: The north of the great bend of the Yellow River, have a wild alpine character and are distinguished from other mountains in the southeast of Mongolia by an abundance of both water and vegetation. In one of their constituent ranges, the bold Muni-uul, 113 km (70 mi) long and nearly 32 km (20 mi) wide, they attain elevations of 2,200 to 2,600 m (7,200 to 8,500 ft), and have steep flanks, slashed with rugged gorges and narrow glens . The desert receives less than 250 mm of precipitation annually, and most of this

896-476: The north-western area). It is the only one of China's twelve sandy zones that is in the transition between a typical steppe and desert climate. The semi-arid continental climate subjects the soil to wind erosion . As noted above, the Mu Us Desert forms part of Ordos Plateau and includes part of the Loess Plateau alluvial plain with a concave floor. Exposed sands in the area come from Cretaceous red and grey sandstone . Quaternary sediments include

928-411: The saline lakes of the Ordos, among them relict gulls ( Larus relictus ) breeding at Lake Hongjiannao ; for this species the Ordos is home to the world's largest breeding colony. The present status of large mammals in the region is largely unclear. In the past, it was inhabited by wild two-humped Bactrian camels , snow leopards , Przewalski's gazelles , and Przewalski's horses . Chinese names of

960-620: The sand dunes from the Huang He in places is studded with little mounds (up to 1.2 m high), mostly overgrown with wormwood ( Artemisia campestris ) and the Siberian pea-tree ( Caragana spp.) ; and here too grows one of the most characteristic plants of Ordos, the liquorice root ( Glycyrrhiza uralensis ) . On the left bank of the Huang He, level spaces amongst the dry river beds are studded with little mounds (9 cm to 1.8 m high), on which grow stunted Nitraria schoberi and Zygophyllum . Towards

992-470: The south, sparse scrub vegetation is found. Forest thickets thrive along the river margins. In the Yin Mountains, forests begin at altitudes of 1,600 m and wild flowers grow in great profusion and variety in summer, though with a striking lack of color. In this same border range there is also a much greater abundance and variety of animal life, especially among the birds . Rare bird species also breed in

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1024-625: The states of Han-Zhao (304–319) and Later Zhao (319–351). Bingzhou was restored in 220 under the Cao Wei regime during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) but the area under its control was reduced as compared to during the Eastern Han dynasty. In 396 during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439), Bingzhou's capital was in Puban County (蒲坂縣; southwest of present-day Yongji , Shanxi ), and

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