If lost or stranded in desert or remote country, stay by your vehicle, report coordinates, shelter and conserve effort
Stay where you are or by the vehicle, your largest shelter. Send coordinates before making a call if signal appears; protect against sun and cold; conserve water and effort, avoiding daytime movement; do not wander; signal with a mirror, smoke or groups of three sounds. Leave your trip plan and vehicle details with someone before departure.
What it takes
Before entering, tell someone the route, destination, return date, vehicle type and plate. Carry at least about 4 liters of water per person per day. Satellite or BeiDou short-message equipment costs over RMB 1,000 to buy or several hundred to rent in China. Staying put despite the urge to wander takes discipline.
What you may gain
US National Park Service Mojave advice specifies at least 1 gallon, about 3.8 liters, per person daily, or 2 gallons for hikers and cyclists; informing someone of route, destination, return date and vehicle details; and unreliable mobile coverage. Death Valley advises no low-elevation/valley-floor hiking in heat, notes almost no wilderness mobile coverage and recommends satellite phones. Mojave desert-driving guidance calls staying with the vehicle the most important emergency action, noting deaths from heat or cold among people trying to walk back to a road. The source's five priorities are reporting safety/location, shade and warmth using the vehicle, water and avoiding movement in daytime heat, staying put, and signaling with mirrors, smoke or groups of three sounds.
Context & considerations
Grade C because these are official practical tips, not research findings. Water amounts, trip notification, signal limitations and staying with the vehicle are directly supported; no official source was found for signals in threes. Do not walk to find a route at midday, drink urine or refuse needed water merely to conserve it. Chinese emergency-management/forestry guidance was not found, and the BeiDou short-message page failed with “Socket is closed.” TODO: verify those Chinese sources.
Research & references
US National Park Service. Mojave National Preserve Safety. https://www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/safety.htm; US National Park Service. Death Valley Safety. https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/safety.htm; US National Park Service. Desert Driving Safety. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/desertdrivingsafety.htm