Dong-E-E-Jiao's "Westward Expansion" Story: Direct Flight to Alxa, Completing the Full Industry Chain Layout of Cistanche Deserticola

How does the launch of flight routes promote the deep integration of the Cistanche industry?

On March 29, the Alxa summer and autumn flight season officially commenced, with a new route from Jinan to Alxa also opening. The vast desert and the spring city of Jinan are now connected in the clouds, embracing each other over a thousand miles apart. This aerial artery has pressed the fast-forward button for high-quality development in personnel exchanges, resource integration, and regional collaboration between the two areas.

In recent years, Alxa has leveraged its unique ecological endowments to vigorously develop the Cistanche specialty sand industry, laying a solid foundation for large-scale cultivation and industrial growth. This “desert wonder herb” is entering a golden window for industrial development. Meanwhile, Dong’e Ejiao has accurately grasped this development opportunity, officially incorporating the Cistanche industry into its corporate strategic development map.

Geographically, this is the opening of a flight route; but from a development logic perspective, it resembles a deep embrace linked by industry. The emergence of this route is the fruitful result of solidifying industrial foundations and market demand.

A “desert wonder herb” connecting the development threads of both regions

From Alxa to Jinan, the road distance exceeds 1234 kilometers, with a self-driving time of up to 15 hours; prior to the route opening, flying from Shandong to Alxa required a transfer in Yinchuan, taking a total of 7 hours; after the route’s opening, travel time between the two places has been compressed to about 3 and a half hours. The revolutionary shortening of time and space reflects the solid steps of a unique industrial chain from its nascence to flourishing growth.

Behind this route lies a core keyword driving regional development—the Cistanche industry. As the most representative medicinal material of Alxa, the quality advantages of Cistanche stem from its unique ecological advantages in the desert. Transforming this resource advantage into industrial, economic, and developmental advantages is the core proposition for Alxa to promote regional high-quality development in recent years.

Leveraging this unique ecological endowment, the cross-thousand-mile industrial journey has quietly unfolded within the sands of Alxa. The total area of artificially cultivated saxaul trees has reached 10.77 million acres, with Cistanche being inoculated on 1.5829 million acres, yielding over 12,000 tons of fresh Cistanche annually. The once desolate Gobi is being rewritten in terms of ecology and development fate by this “desert wonder herb.”

The extension of this industrial chain from the desert to Qilu’s land and its connection to the national market is driven by Dong’e Ejiao’s comprehensive industrial chain strategy.

As a representative enterprise in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, Dong’e Ejiao closely follows the company’s “1238 strategy,” turning its strategic focus to the resource-advantaged Alxa. Since 2024, it has continuously promoted the Cistanche project to take root and develop steadily in Alxa, gradually establishing a collaborative development pattern of “joint construction by enterprises and localities, industrial expansion, integration of the tertiary industry, and quality domestic products,” enabling the hidden ecological resources of the desert to transform into quality products recognized nationwide.

From an industrial perspective, the opening of the flight route is not a coincidence but an inevitable result of industrial concentration and coordinated upgrading. When industrial development needs reach new heights, the opening of an aerial passage becomes a natural choice of the times.

A path that reconstructs the ecological and industrial landscape

It is noteworthy that in recent years, the Alxa League Committee and government have consistently prioritized ecological preservation and green development, coordinating ecological protection with industrial revitalization, using Cistanche’s unique resources as a lever to strengthen policy guidance and resource assurance. On one hand, relying on national ecological projects such as pasture retirement and sand prevention, they are cultivating saxaul forests and inoculating Cistanche on a large scale, achieving mutual promotion between ecological governance and characteristic industries; on the other hand, they are accurately introducing large enterprises, deepening strategic cooperation between enterprises and localities, and promoting the transition of the industry from scattered cultivation to standardized, large-scale, full-chain development.

Dong’e Ejiao’s deep integration is a hallmark achievement of this development approach. In September 2024, the Alxa League signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Dong’e Ejiao to jointly establish a subsidiary and create the “Zhuangben” characteristic brand; in May 2025, a joint base for one million acres of Cistanche commenced; in September of the same year, the Dong’e Ejiao Alxa Cistanche Group was officially inaugurated. The collaboration between the enterprise and local government not only promotes the industrial system toward organization, standardization, and branding but also explores a sustainable development path of “promoting ecology through industry and strengthening industry through ecology.”

Across the vast land of Alxa, saxaul forests grow in patches, while Cistanche, dependent on saxaul, quietly cultivates and gains momentum beneath the sandy soil. Saxaul protects the ecology, while Cistanche nurtures the industry. This unique model allows ecological governance and characteristic industries to coexist organically and achieve mutual success. The local government continues to advance ecological project construction, solidifying the ecological foundation through large-scale saxaul planting, which also lays a solid resource foundation for Cistanche industry development; Dong’e Ejiao’s deep layout and full-chain operation effectively convert ecological results into sustainable economic value. Farmers and herdsmen participate in the entire process of planting, management, and harvesting, becoming ecological builders for sand prevention while being direct beneficiaries of industrial prosperity, achieving a win-win situation in ecological improvement, industrial development, and income increase for the people.

As the industrial chain continues to extend, the Alxa League actively promotes the upgrade of the Cistanche industry from “planting and processing” to “diversified integration.” Surrounding sand industry resources, the government and enterprises collaboratively create characteristic experience routes—such as the Alxa Cistanche Museum, Cistanche Cultural Museum, and industrial sightseeing routes—gradually taking shape, transforming the industry from “invisible production” to “experiential scenes.” More and more people are coming to Alxa, not just to purchase products but to gain a deeper understanding of the “desert wonder herb,” experience the desert ecology, and appreciate traditional Chinese medicine culture.

It is against this backdrop that the significance of the flight route is further amplified. Alxa seizes this opportunity to deepen the integration of culture and tourism, expand its openness, allowing the air route to not only meet travel needs but also become a golden channel for consumer flow, experiential exchange, and cultural dissemination, injecting strong new momentum into the high-quality development of the regional economy.

However, a flight route is worth looking forward to not just for its convenience but for the sights, perceptions, and gains after arrival. For travelers from afar, Cistanche is no longer the abstract “desert wonder herb” from books, but a tangible, experiential, and delightful entity they can take home.

Over the past year, in the process of deepening the Cistanche industry, Dong’e Ejiao has adhered to the essence of traditional Chinese medicine, promoting the modernization of classical formulas. It has innovatively upgraded its Seven Flavor Cistanche Wine, inheriting the essence of ancient formulas while optimizing processes to fit modern life; continuously launching products like Ejiao Cistanche original liquid, Cistanche original liquid, Cistanche peptide drinks, and Ejiao Cistanche paste, carrying the gifts of the desert in varied forms. These products have long transcended mere commodities, becoming emotional carriers that help people understand Alxa and take away memories of the desert, serving as the most heartfelt connective link in this “two-way journey.”

Mutual accomplishment, the interdependent achievements of the flight route and the industry

Chang Xiaobin, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Alxa League’s Center for Characteristic Industry Development, stated that the official opening of the Alxa to Jinan flight route marks a “two-way journey” connecting the desert and Qilu. In recent years, we have deepened cooperation with Dong’e Ejiao, jointly establishing the Dong’e Ejiao Alxa Cistanche Group, yielding fruitful results in the deep processing of ecological sand industry and brand co-construction. The interconnectivity of this flight route will deeply bind Shandong’s industrial, market, and brand advantages with Alxa’s resource, geographical, and policy advantages, further promoting comprehensive cooperation between both parties in the deep processing of Cistanche and other ecological sand industries, development of health products, and market expansion, achieving seamless connections from resources to capital and from production areas to markets. This is not only a geographic connection but also a deep integration of the industrial chain, supply chain, and value chain, holding milestone significance for Alxa to leverage its characteristic resources, integrate into the national unified market, and achieve a win-win situation in ecological benefits and economic benefits. We will take this as an opportunity to continuously deepen regional cooperation, enabling Alxa’s characteristic industries to achieve high-quality development on a broader stage.

From Dong’e in Shandong to Alxa in Inner Mongolia, from a thousand years of Ejiao to desert Cistanche, the Alxa League and Dong’e Ejiao have explored a new paradigm of high-quality development in the traditional Chinese medicine industry through the integration of the tertiary industry. Now, the desert and the spring city are connected in the clouds, and the breakthrough in spatial distance is deeply transforming into an endogenous momentum for industrial cooperation, ecological co-construction and win-win outcomes, and cultural exchange and integration.

Flight routes have arrivals and departures, but industries have no endpoint. The deep connections rooted in industry are far more enduring and substantial than the routes themselves. The desert and the city are no longer two distant entities gazing at each other but a community of development that is interdependent, trustworthy, complementary, and strong. A Cistanche sprouts from the sand, leveraging industrial strength and the winds of the flight route to enter thousands of households; travelers from all directions also flock to the desert via this route, witnessing ecological miracles and experiencing industrial vitality.

True mutual accomplishment is never a one-way arrival but a realization of two-way resource flow, two-way cognitive renewal, and two-way empowerment through repeated exchanges. In the future, with the official launch of new flight routes and the continuous deepening of the Cistanche industry, this “two-way journey” that begins with resources, thrives on industry, and flourishes through collaboration will undoubtedly unleash more lasting and stronger value dynamics, writing a new chapter in regional collaboration, ecological prosperity for the people, and industrial revitalization of the nation.

Reporter: Zhao Yangyue Editor: Han Luying Proofreader: Li Li