Gold Miners in the Desert

«Gold Miners in the Desert» — an adventure novel about gold mining in the Dzungarian desert. The main characters — Mafу and Liu Pi, two Chinese gold miners, work daily in the mine, extracting ore rich in grains of yellow metal. Their lives are full of hardships: a greedy official tries to illegally cheat the miners, hidden gold can become prey to thieves, and the desert around the mine is filled with wolves and the evil wind khyfyn. When the heroes decide to try their luck at a new mine, their plans are disrupted by the uprising of the Dungans — Chinese Muslims who have rebelled against the authorities. War, robberies, and murders turn the lives of the gold miners into a struggle not only for gold but also for survival.
The novel is based on the research conducted by the writer, geologist, and traveler Vladimir Obruchev (1863—1956) in Dzungaria — a part of Western China adjacent to the southeastern borders of Eastern Kazakhstan. There he studied mountain systems and the history of local gold mining.