Desertification in South China
Photo: Chen Zhiqing
Time: 30th May, 1996
Site: Near Datang Town, Nanxiong County, Guangdong Province
Height: 160 m
Brief Introduction: When talking about desertification, what appear in one’s brain are desert scenes in arid and semi-arid regions in northwest of China. While this picture was taken in Guangdong Province in south China, where the annual precipitation is over 1500 mm. Vegetation has been destroyed by irrational human activities. Running water erosion is terribly fierce on purple sandstone here which dose not hold much anti-erodibility. The picture shows that almost all surface soil has been washed out by storms, leaving bare rocks everywhere without any plants. The landscape got a name of ‘red desert’.
