Shihezi, CHINA

People call the city “a shining pearl in the Gobi desert." First-time visitors to Shihezi City never fail to be surprised at seeing such an expanse of green in a city in China’s dry northwest. Shihezi City is the locus of the Agricultural 8th Division. With its 18 agriculture and livestock farms and 2 water conservancy centers, it is the largest division in the Corp accounting for a quarter of its personnel and economic output. Greenery now clothes 42 percent of the city’s 460 square kilometers, which are home to some 620,000 people.#shihezi