In 1967, the developments of the Cultural Revolution brought Ai Xuan's formal artistic training at the Central Academy of Fine Arts to an end. In the 1970s, during the 11 years he acted as artist-in-residence in the Chengdu military district, Ai often went sketching in Tibet and began to develop a deep understanding on their local way of life. The artist states that: "Tibet seems to exert a transcendental and insurmountable power over man. The place is immutable, unchanging and solemn; one often feels helpless and powerless against it K [Paradoxically] being under this state lends me the power to express how I feel." For the artist, the Tibetan backdrop brings attention to the smallness of human beings in relation to nature. The tribulations and hardship confronted by Ai's figures in fact allow the artist to reveal his observations on the struggles of human existence, based on his personal experience.

Tundra (Lot 3361) shows an isolated young girl in a boundless and barren wasteland. The thick clothing of the young girl highlights the coldness of the wasteland, a place where the young girl only has wilting wood to lean on. Ai Xuan sets up a strong contrast in composition to highlight the unrivalled power of nature in comparison to the girl who seems to be separated from the world.

The main thematic focus of the carefully constructed painting is not the vastness and monumental nobleness of the Tibetan landscape. Ai goes beyond representing the realities of an observed scene to exploring "the basic human condition and man's relation to the natural world".

Tundra can be compared to a fable; underlying the simple but striking plot as the artist's incessant search for the meaning of existence.