Xinhua
07 Jun 2025

BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Grape planter Li Haohua enjoys strolling around Chteau Yuanshi, drinking in people's amazement when they visit the stylish wine-tasting hall, which was converted from a once-scarred quarry.

At the eastern foothill of Helan Mountain in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China, Chteau Yuanshi is among a cluster of renovated complexes surrounded by greenery. Just a handful of decades ago, the mountain bore the open scars of mining.

Li, 54, is now a veteran of the winery. The former quarry worker who once transported sand and gravel has witnessed the transformation of Helan Mountain from one of China's significant coking coal production bases to an idyllic tourist hotspot.

"In the past, strong winds blew sharp sand into my face. It was painful! After years of afforestation, this place has become a popular tourist destination, and the winery's business has flourished," said Li.

The transformation is not unique to Chteau Yuanshi. Shitanjing, another mining area at the foothills of the Helan Mountain, has been given a second life as a favored film shooting location.

As an industrial heritage site, towering chimneys, cooling towers, and structures built between the 1960s and 1990s, including hospitals, department stores, and a railway station, have been preserved to record its past. At its peak, the mining industry in Shitanjing supported over 30,000 miners and their families.

"The mining town was bustling with activity, well-equipped with department stores, cinemas and schools," recalled Ying Ziyue, a local community worker.

Following the depletion of coal resources, however, the area experienced significant population outflow and economic decline.

A transformative shift occurred in 2017 when the regional government of Ningxia launched the Helan Mountain Ecological Protection Campaign.

All coal mines, washing plants, and industrial facilities within the national nature reserve were shuttered for good. A systematic ecological restoration initiative soon followed.

Shitanjing has found a new path, one paved with cultural tourism that blends improved ecology with the remnants of its unique industrial past. As a result, its rugged landscape has become a magnet for film crews, serving as backdrops for suspense, military, and sci-fi productions.

Since 2021, over 30 productions have been filmed here, with five more films and five short dramas slated for this year. The local government is repurposing vacant buildings into dormitories, kitchens, and prop warehouses, providing comprehensive support.

Ge Yihong, 63, who regrets not being able to wear white clothes when she was young because of the coal dust, is now working as a location scout. Popularly called a "living map" for film crews, Ge's local knowledge helped the "Home Coming" movie team find a crucial location in just 20 minutes, which they had searched for months nationwide.

Unique tourism resources and rising fame saw Shitanjing clock up 184,000 tourist visits in 2024 alone.

The stories beneath the Helan Mountain showcase a national trend. As China advances toward high-quality development, once-depleted mining areas are leading eco-driven industrial transformations.

At Dafanpu Coal Mine of Liliang Coal Industry Co., Ltd. in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, reclaimed mining land, once choked by dust, now yields flourishing apples and grapes.

In the city of Weihai in Shandong Province, east China, a former mining gully has been reborn as a cultural valley, its cliffs etched with masterpieces from generations of calligraphy masters.

And in Fuxin, Liaoning Province, northeast China, young crowds come for the scarred mining pits repurposed as challenging off-road racing tracks, and stay for various music festivals.

By the end of 2024, China had rehabilitated over 333,300 hectares of abandoned mines, including 26,200 hectares in 2024 alone, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

"Leveraging ecological restoration, industrial upgrading, and cultural-tourism integration, former industrial wastelands are reborn," said Liao Lichun, head of Delimofang Afforestation Group with long ecological greening experience.

"Green development not only enhances the environment but creates new growth drivers -- offering a sustainable Chinese model for resource-depleted regions globally," Liao added.