At the turn of spring and summer of this year, my family and I packed our suitcases and got on the train to Ejina Banner. We initially arrived at Bayanzhuoer by train, and then went to Ejina by car. Ejina Banner is one of the banners under Alashan League of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region with an area of 114606 square meters and a population of 20000. Most of this region is the lifeless desert. It is well-known for the forest of Euphrates Poplar and Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center as well.

Euphrates Poplar has various names, such as heroic tree, three-leaved tree etc. It is the plant of willow family and usually grows in the desert. Because of its remarkable capabilities of resisting drought, wind, sand, salinization and alkalization, it has won the fame as the “heroic tree in the desert.” Its leaves are unique with the long leaves as narrow as willow on the branches of seedling while the leaves on the old branches are as round as the leaves of poplar. There are many indenting gaps along the margin of leaves in the similar shape of maple. Therefore, it has the reputation as the poplar of different species. Some fossils of Euphrates poplar have been found in the middle of stratification of Paleocene Epoch of Ejina Banner, Caves of Thousand Buddhas in Kuche and Tiejianggou of Dunhuang. It dates back to 65 million years at least, which is the good match for gingko, the living fossil of plant.

Because of all these features of Euphrates poplar, this tree has been given endless praises, such as the defiance of danger and difficulties, harsh striving, and uprightness with dignity and integrity. Its existence brings hope and solace to those desperate people in desert. It protects this land, while various sad and beautiful tales along the ancient Silk Road bring more awesome lusters to it. At the farthest end of vision, yellow dusts are raised with the hoarse and low voice against this background. The voice is sometimes passionate, sometimes sad on chanting the history of this land. With the gradual settlement of the sands, an ancient broken city called Black City came into view. This city was built in the reign of West Xia in the 9th century. It is told that many years ago, a Mongolian general named Black Hero was stationed here and protected this place. With the passage of time, people tended to call him Black General and this city thus got the name Black City. Since this general was famous for Thanks to his fortitude and wisdom in the battlefield, this general was later promoted and married the little daughter of the Emperor at his favor.

Later, the general became full-fledged and dared to eye the sovereignty of Emperor on reliance of his own power with the ambitious attempt to unify the country. This plot was discovered by the Princess who then leaked the dirty trick of her husband to her father. In towering rage, the Emperor sent a grand army of tens of thousands to attack the Black City with the General wanted. But the army failed to break this city and had to lay siege to it in order to prevent his escape. The Emperor asked a witch master for assistance and got the following answer, “The land of this city is high, while the river runs low. Our army fails to get water by digging a well outside the city, but those inside the city are not thirsty at all. There must be an underground tunnel to transport water. If we stop it, our victory will be made”.

Therefore, the Emperor sent another ten thousands army to the throat of the upper reach of Emuna River. Along with some witches’ chanting the special mantras in loud voices, soliders used their helmet to carry sand and earth. Soon, the river was blocked as a giant dam was erected. Within a few days, all the people and animals inside the Black City were desperate for water and the crops on the outskirts of the city withered. The General ordered the soldiers to dig wells until the depth of more than 267 meters below, but there was still no water. In the waterless, scorching, thirsty and desperate plight, the General had no choice but to break the siege. He dumped all the treasure into a dry well and said to his two children, “Just be the masters of treasure and I wish that a man with bald head riding a blue ox would take our treasure away one day.” Then, he buried two children alive in the deep well and ordered soldiers to gouge the northern city wall open overnight. He managed to lead the army out of the city in a bloody way towards the North.

Nowadays, we can see a hole in the northwest city wall of the relics, which is large enough for a man riding on a camel in and out. It is said to be the place where the General led the army to break away. The giant hole in the off northwest within the city is described to be the dry deep well where the treasure of whole city was buried. In local people’s belief, that great sand ridge is just the giant dam that stopped the course of water at that time.