This is not intended to contradict your point, but the first video is an obvious marketing fluff piece almost certainly funded by the Chinese government (China Daily is not an independent news source). It is designed to manipulate foreign opinion in favor of China and distract from their pollution problem. The video does not represent scientifically persuasive evidence in favor of your point.
"As we get closer, I can feel the temperature change. Here it's not just cool, it's actually a little cold."
Well no shit; those mountains you're strolling through peak at 7000 feet and higher [0].
Yes, I realize that it is obviously Chinese propaganda, but I used it to show that deserts are entirely reversible. You are right that the altitude definitely has a cooling effect, but it also doesn't change the fact that the trees stabilized a desert into a forest.
"As we get closer, I can feel the temperature change. Here it's not just cool, it's actually a little cold."
Well no shit; those mountains you're strolling through peak at 7000 feet and higher [0].
[0] http://en-gb.topographic-map.com/places/Hebei-7042315/