In 2000, too, the Erjina Banner government held the first Euphrates Poplars Festival and gave out books to experts and officials from the central government urging them to protect the trees and seeking financial support. The government then started to take measures to protect the trees such as watering and tackling desertification, and the trees eventually began to flourish.

"I go from every year to take photos and witness the enormous changes."

The annual festival draws many tourists, drawn among other things by the beauty of the trees, and it is lucrative for herders who can offer their services as drivers or guides.

Three years ago, Bao published a photo collection called Spirit in Wild that featured different horses and their owners on Inner Mongolian grasslands in four seasons.

"Capturing the expressions of animals and humans well all comes down to a split second," he says. "Horses are constantly moving, so they need to be captured at just the right time."

His grandmother used to tell him how the king of horses guarded the safety of other horses and horses that risked their lives to protect their owner, he says. Horses are the most loyal friends humans can have, he says, which is why capturing them in poignant moments on the grasslands is important to him.

"Herders used to use horses as labor and transport. But now, only a few are good enough to join equestrian competitions."

Herders on the grassland work very hard and are adept at raising animals such as horses and sheep, he says.

"The grassland itself is much the same as before, but there has been a big change in that herders are much better off than they used to be. They used to live in shabby Mongolian gers but now live in brick houses that keep warm or mobile houses that are easy to move around."