and wonderful animals in the Gobi desert. There are a small number of animal species that live
in the desert, but all are amazing in many ways, especially in the ways they have adapted to the
harsh desert environment.
Not only animals are amazing and wonderful in their survival in this desert. Plants in the
Gobi desert are also equally amazing and wonderful. The common tree in Gobi desert is the
‘saxaul tree.’ This tree is one of the most important plants in the Gobi desert. It is because the
saxaul tree has the ability to store water. The saxaul tree is an important part of the desert’s
ecosystem. The saxaul tree looks like a witch’s hand and it has a lot of leaves on it, we can barely
notice them for their size. It has a water-soaked trunk and that is why humans want to find it so
they can have water. A funny named plant is the saltwort. The saltwort can live in salt desert in
the Gobi desert. The saltwort earns its name from the fact that it is incredibly tolerant of salt. It
is amazing that the saltwort can live in a salt desert like the Gobi because only a few other plants
can live in a salt desert in. The saltwort gathers moisture from the surface of the Earth while the
roots give the plant stability. There is also another plant that is well-known. That plant is the
wild onion. The wild onions naturally grow within regions in Asia such as Siberia, Mongolia and
China but the wild onions are mostly found in Mongolia. The wild onions grow in some dry and
rocky areas like on the ground or top of a stone. People who ate the onion bulbs say that the onion
bulbs tastes like hazelnuts. There are a lot of other plants but these three plants the most well-
known plants in the Gobi desert.
There are also humans in the Gobi desert. Majority of them are Mongolian but also there are
some Han Chinese in the Gobi. They are called Nomads and they live in a house called ‘Gel.’ The
Gel is transferable house so they can move their house to another place. They move their house
when their domestic animals have eaten the grass in the area that they had lived in. Inside the Gel
there is enough space for one family to live. They can remove two metal post that supports’ the
structure and put it in to another place where they choose to live in. Nomads or people that are in
Gobi wear white clothes to reflect the scorching heat and keep them cool. They live in a special
place. Certainly they eat and drink special things. The Nomads drink a beverage called spool
which is made out of a plant called the desert spoon. They take sap from the desert spoon and
they put some kind of their own sugar then they mix it then drink it. Nomads say that the spool
is very delicious and it is good to drink especially when there is no water. Their foods consists
mainly meat. For example they eat long tailed squirrel and if there is not enough food they
sometimes eat jerboas. They usually eat or drink under the shade of a tree or eat inside the Gel.
Their style of food, drink and clothes are different to the modern people in cities but they would
not leave this lifestyle and live any other way.
Because the Gobi desert is the fifth largest desert in the world and the largest desert in Asia so
in Gobi Desert there are amazing and fantastic animals such as camel, jerboa, wolf, snow leopard
and musk-ox and there are also amazing plants such as saxaul tree, saltwort and wild onions. The
personality and nationality of the Nomads are different but it is good to see that they are friendly
to each other and share their foods or beverages. It is sometimes dangerous in Gobi desert because
of the predators but the Nomads are kind and there is a lot of delicious food there so it is really
good adventure to visit the Gobi desert. By this fact the Gobi desert is one of the best deserts in
the world.
