"The sands piled up outside our house, blocking the door overnight. We had to get out through the window and used shovel to clear the sand," said Chen Ningbu, a 70-year-old resident from Hanggin banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Chen told reporters about what life in the Kubuqi Desert was like when visiting an exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up on Monday.

"We lived in adobe huts which would be buried by moving sand every a few years, so we had to move frequently," he said.

Hanggin banner was plagued by sands blown from the Kubuqi Desert for generations. The desert, about 800 kilometers west of Beijing, is the seventh-largest in China and a source of sandstorms that threaten the capital city.

"In the spring, sandstorms hit our village often. When it came, the sky was covered and got dark. The sand hit people's faces, leaving bruises and swollen eyelids," he said.

Since a greening project was initiated three decades ago, the lives of local residents have seen tremendous changes and desert areas reduced significantly.

Elion Resources Group, a local enterprise, launched the tree-planting initiative in 1988. To help local farmers and herdsmen shake off poverty, the company hires them to plant and take care of trees. The enterprise provides seedlings to residents and pays them if the trees survive and meet standards.

Chen Ningbu, the herdsman, said in the beginning one could earn 20-odd yuan by working a day in the desert planting, watering or pruning trees, and now a day's hard work could bring 300 to 400 yuan.

He said the tree-planting program not only benefits local residents, but also migrant workers from neighboring provinces and regions such as Gansu, Shaanxi and Ningxia.