Migrants brought grape seeds, and local families often trellised their back yards and grew vines. Vineyards were common in the city.

But only 65 percent of grapes survived past a year because soil salinization hovered around pH 8 and temperatures plummet to -30 C in winter. Grapes had to be replanted annually, while top-tier wines usually comes from aged vines.

Technicians in Li's team grafted French varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, on roots from local wild grapes to create hybrids.

They also grew breeds common to China for comparison. Though the new varieties grew slower in the first year, they struggled to survive and bloomed. Others gradually withered.

Annual rainfall in the region is 100-200 mm, but evaporation exceeds 3,000 mm.

And the precipitation that soaks the ground seeps through the vineyard's sand without nourishing the plants. An Israeli drip irrigation system was introduced, and the survival rate rocketed to 95 percent.

"If you drop a grape seed in a southern province, it will easily grow into a vine," Li says.

"But our varieties are much stronger against cold, disease and other ecological inhospitalities. It's not good to always protect plants in greenhouses."

Sandstorms pose the greatest threat to seedlings.

"No matter how we grow the plants, sandstorms can blast or bury, and kill them," Li says.

Poplars became the first shield.

But the 10-meter-high trees only blunted the force of the sandblasts, and many seedlings still died.