Desertification is causing a crisis in China and neighboring countries. Desert storms from Central Asia are causing destruction across large parts of northern Asia. Every spring, dust from China's northern deserts is blown eastward, into Beijing and other cities, even as far as Korea. A blanket of particles coats buildings, cars, and people, and hospitals are inundated with patients suffering respiratory problems. The dust threatens to shut down the city, getting into machinery, closing airports, and damaging crops. It can carry pollution and even potentially infectious disease.

Overgrazing, deforestation, and drought combine to turn vulnerable arid lands to desert, with a loose topsoil easily transported by wind. The dunes are now around 250 km from Beijing.

The Green Great Wall of China is an attempt to reverse the desertification.

Pekín, periferia

Beijing's increase in land area from 4,822 km² in 1956 to 16,808 km² in 1958 led to the increased adoption of peri-urban agriculture. Such "suburban agriculture" led to more than 70% of non-staple food in Beijing, mainly consisting of vegetables and milk, to be produced by the city itself in the 1960s and 1970s. Recently, with relative food security in China, periurban agriculture has led to improvements in the quality of the food available, as opposed to quantity. One of the more recent experiments in urban agriculture is the Modern Agricultural Science Demonstration Park in Xiaotangshan.^[2]

The west panorama of Shenzhen

Shenzhen, China, was once a small farming community and is now a fast growing metropolis because the Chinese government has designated the region an open economic zone.

Traditionally, Chinese cities have been known to mix agricultural activities within the urban setting. Due to the large and growing population in China, the government supports urban self-sufficiency in food production. Shenzhen's village structure, sustainable methods, and new agricultural advancements initiated by the government have been strategically configured to supply food for this growing city.^[3]