On December 31st last year, in Jinchang and surrounding areas in Gansu Province strong sandstorm was occurred. The sandstorm was blown from the newly reclaimed zone, 10 times more than the sand from the desert. The wind velocity was 17 meters per second and the visibility was less than 10 meters. The visibility in Zhou Jiajing is close to zero...

Experts point out the digging up of sandlots around the desert worsened the sandstorm. More analysis of the sand samplings from Hexi, Lanzhou and Beijing is needed to determine the source of the sand dust.