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Along the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, farmers are sowing 35,000 mu (over 23 square kilometers) of winter wheat across fields of perfect circles.

Why circles? Because of the sprinklers. A long arm rotates around a central point, pulling water from Kunlun Mountain snowmelt and spreading it evenly over land that used to be rolling sand dunes. It uses far less water than flooding the fields.

The soil is poor and sandy, so farmers rotate wheat with oats or alfalfa– crops that hold the sand down, feed the soil and feed livestock too.

And the tractors are guided by BeiDou, China's own satellite navigation system. It's all part of a bigger push to turn desert into farmland. Planting wraps up around October 20.

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Why China's desert is growing wheat in perfect circles