English: The Shaanxi province is located in the region of Northwest China. The project location is mainly situated on the Loess plateau and is dominated by agriculture. The main products are grain, fruits, tobacco, cotton and vegetables. The soil is fertile, but the climate is semi-arid with rainfalls less than 600mm per year. The winters are very cold with temperatures averaging less than 0°C in January and hot summers with average temperatures of 26°C in July. Shaanxi has the lowest gross domestic product (GDP) of all provinces and especially in the small villages the income is very low. The visited project site is in Pucheng County, which is about 120 km Northeast of Xi’an, Shaanxi, China. Photo by P. Feiereisen in August 2009.