Afforestation of Desert Highway

China's massive public works projects and geoengineering efforts are unparalleled. Pruned points us to an impressive emblem of both: The Tarim Desert Highway crosses the Taklamakan desert from north to south at a length of 552km, approximately 446km of which traverses, says Wikipedia, "uninhabited areas covered by shifting sand dunes, making it the longest such highway in the world."

 The highway's extension in 1994 to the Tarim Basim in Xinjiang Province was as much a stroke of economic savvy as of political control: the basin contains the largest oil-gas field in China, and mainly-Muslim Xinjiang happens to be a place over which Beijing is eager for more influence. Two birds, one piece of asphalt.