A Resplendent Rock-built Legend
SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School, Yau Shun Him, Non-Fiction: Group 4
E
xisting as the fifth largest desert and being composed of five different ecosystems, the
Gobi Desert is undeniably a unique and intriguing place to many of us. Unlike other
deserts across the globe, namely the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Desert, which are
mainly made up of sand, 95% of the Gobi Desert is found as rocky terrain. Despite its
extremely arid and tremendously varied climate, the vast area of the Gobi Desert, spanning
about 500,000 square miles, has housed hundreds of plant and animal species like the snow
leopards and Saxual trees. Not only has the Gobi desert contributed to our ecology, but it has also
facilitated the economic and cultural development in the ancient and modern times. Without this
indispensable and lively desert, the life of the human beings would have been different from stem
to stern.
Covering a boundless area and a splendid array of terrain, the Gobi Desert embraces five
ecosystems like the Eastern Gobi desert steppe, Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe and so on and so
forth. Apart from the breathtaking view, the Gobi Desert is also notable for its extreme and fast-
changing temperature. The daily temperature difference could be as wide as 90 Degree Celsius,
ranging from -40 Degree Celsius in winter to 50 Degree Celsius in summer! What is more, it is
also exceedingly parched in the Gobi Desert owing to the blockage of moisture by the Himalayas,
which makes the desert a rain-shadow area. It is therefore unquestionably a legend that so many
plants and animals, which make the desert full of lives, could still survive under such extreme
climate. Then, you may ask, when and how was this unique and fabulous legend formed? Could
we look for some clues in the elongated river of history?
Ever since the discovery of some dinosaur egg fossils, it has been suspected that the Gobi
Desert was formed millions of years ago due to the drying up of water sources like lakes or
rivers. Thus, the earliest history of the Gobi Desert could probably be dated back to hundreds of
thousands of centuries before.
As time went by, this ‘legendary’ desert managed to sustain and expand its area to mantle
part of the area of Mongolia and China. Other than serving as a dwelling for various species, the
Gobi Desert commenced to contribute to the economic development of Asia as early as in the Tang
Dynasty. The Silk Road, which was the main route for China to carry out trading and business
activities with other Asian countries or even European regions like the Middle East and the
Balkan Peninsula, began to develop during the Tang Dynasty after Emperor Taizong had defeated
and colonized a number of China’s neighbouring countries. Merchants at that time had to travel
across the Gobi Desert since it is situated right on the way of the Silk Road. Riding the camels
which lived in the Gobi Desert and could resist prolonged sun-shine and dehydration, merchants
could then transport the goods to other places via the Gobi Desert. Consequently, the Gobi Desert
facilitated economic development by boosting trading in ancient China.
Furthermore, the Gobi Desert acted as a catalyst again to promote cultural exchange between
China and other countries in Tang and its following dynasties. Besides being engaged in business
activities, many Chinese could travel to other Asian countries and many Asians could travel to
China. Some of them even migrated to other places in Asia. When people reached a different
place, their home culture would co-exist with the local one. The diversified cultures may then
Winner
