Li Bingbing conquers the desert

Li Bingbing was busy saving Qinghai Lake from desertification a few weeks ago.

Suitable garbed for protection against sun and sand she took pictures to document the desert encroaching on the lake:

She checked the pots of algae being grown to spray on the sands to help develop plants that do well in changing environments:

Helped spray the algae around although, given the size of the area around Qinghai Lake (and nearby, more strategic locations) it looks like a Quixotic undertaking. The lake has a circumference of 360 kilometers:

The lake is a sacred place in Tibet and traversing its circumference a very efficient manner is one way to build up merit and be forgiven for one's transgressions:

Using algae to counter desertification seems to be scientifically accepted according to researchers at the Universtiy of Edinburgh although cynics might say that Beijing is more interested in keeping the shifting sands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from covering the tracks of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway than in the shores of the largest salt water lake in China. The railroad is called "the Road to Heaven" in Beijing; a looming environmental disaster and a dagger thrust into Tibetan national hopes elsewhere.

Sina; China Daily; China Dialog; Threatened Waters; TEW