Wondrous Xinjiang: Safeguarding power supply in 'Sea of Death'

URUMQI -- At the break of day, Ehemat Tohti and his colleagues readied their equipment and embarked on their journey into the heart of the Taklimakan Desert, China's largest, commencing a day of patrol. Stretching over 264 km, the transmission line plays a crucial role in ensuring a stable power supply to counties and villages situated along the southern edge of the Taklimakan in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, including Qiemo and Ruoqiang. Ehemat Tohti, 55, is an electrical worker with the power supply company of Bayingolin Mongolian autonomous prefecture under the State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co Ltd. "We need to cross the desert once a month to check the status of the 729 transmission towers in order to ensure a normal power supply. "Human workers can patrol up to about 20 power towers a day, but with the help of drones, we can cover nearly 100 towers," he said.