Ten-year-old HE Fangfei and her family are "eco-refugees" living in Minqin County. Minqin, once an oasis, is now one of the major sources of sandstorms in China. The deserts are encroaching on the towns and swallowing up farmland, schools and homes. The government advisers privately describe Minqin and the surrounding areas as "ecological disaster areas", and try to convince the villagers that the only option the Chinese people in this region have is to respect nature’s rules by allowing the sand to encroach and restore these regions to the original ecological system. The film examines this ongoing battle, now carried out by young villagers like HE, between human nature and Mother Nature.
