Once known as the “Sea of Death,” the Taklimakan Desert is now at the center of one of the world’s most ambitious land restoration projects.

Stretching 337,000 square kilometers across China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Taklimakan is the second-largest shifting sand desert on Earth. For decades, its dunes expanded relentlessly, swallowing roads, villages and farmland.

But today, that narrative is changing.

In this video, we take you deep into the desert’s edge to see how China is fighting back – not only by stopping the sands, but by turning them into new sources of life and income.