In golden autumn, emerald-green sugarcane, about 2 meters high, thrives on the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert in Yutian County, located in the central-eastern section of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, proving that this "sweet" southern crop can take root at the desert's edge. With local supply long reliant on costly distant shipments, the local government introduced over 24,000 seedlings from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for trial planting. Meanwhile, abundant sunshine and large day-night temperature differences make the desert-grown sugarcane especially sweet.