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Text: Chen Zhuqi
Edited by Chen Zhuqi
(Source: All content stated in this article is based on reliable sources, and is repeated at the end of the article)
Ten years ago, the mainland spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build the Kangbashi New District in Ordos, but it did not realize that due to the emergence of "real estate bubbles" and other phenomena, the occupancy rate dropped and became a sparsely populated desert area, so it was ridiculed as a "ghost town" by the American media.
But as everyone knows, today's Kangbashi New Area, directly relying on the strength of "the first per capita GDP in the country", has become "the first national AAAA-level tourist city in the mainland with urban landscape as the carrier", and directly counterattacked and turned over!
From "deserted" to a tourist resort, what has Ordos experienced, and what is the glorious scene now?
A "ghost town" built with tens of billions of dollars
The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region can be said to be the largest province in the mainland, because of the topography, it is also the largest desert area in the mainland, and the native desert occupies 1/4 of the entire province, which is also a serious blow to the desert people earlier.
However, it is such a desert capital, because of its rich resources, that has evolved into the largest grassland pastoral area on the mainland, and is now the most intact grassland, so as to enjoy the title of "pasture kingdom".
And in this vast land, there is a multi-ethnic region such as the prefecture-level city of Ordos, which can be said to have developed extremely rapidly, because it has achieved the same per capita GDP as Hong Kong as early as 2010.
Because of this, many regions even refer to this place as "Little Hong Kong in the Mainland", after all, it is also a grand sight for an economically prosperous area to appear in a desert area, and it can even promote local economic development.
However, Ordos does live up to expectations, because of its rich coal and other mineral resources, it has become the fastest growing prefecture-level city in the province in a few years, and even ranks among the best in urban development at the same stage, with a very fast development speed.
Because of this, during 2004, because many regions of the country were implementing constructive plans to build new areas, Ordos put forward the idea of "Kangbashi New Area", and even invested hundreds of millions of dollars for it.
Unexpectedly, during the construction period, due to the over-exploitation of coal resources and the over-construction of local real estate projects, there was a serious depression of oversupply, and the million people they hoped for lived in at first only about 100,000 people in the end.
Because of this, many large areas of houses were vacant, coupled with the overuse of resources, so that the Kangbashi area at that time became a vast and sparsely populated place, and there was no reason for people to live there.
However, because the local government has invested nearly 5 billion yuan before and after, it has not only built many large-scale entertainment venues, hospitals, shopping malls and other areas, but also a small new area, and the overall supporting facilities are comparable to the infrastructure of a first-tier city.
However, because the housing prices are too noisy, no residents have been willing to move to the new city of Kangbashi, so that the huge city, which seems to be well-planned, has become a "typical city" in media reports because there is not much traffic.
Because an American reporter once went to the Kangbashi area to investigate the area, it happened that not many people in the new area were willing to accept it at that time, so the American media directly ridiculed "Ordos is a ghost town" in the "Time" report.
Even the British media have reported that "Kangbashi New Area is the largest ghost town in China", so that under the wanton media coverage, they have given the Kangbashi area the label of "ghost town".
This is a heavy blow to the people of Ordos and the policy of Kangbashi New District, and even many netizens in China have been puzzled many times, and such a label has been carried for many years.
However, with the support of the national policy and the joint efforts of the local government and people, the Kangbashi New Area has finally been transformed into a green city, which has amazed many people and the media in the United States.
4A-level tourist city
For a long time, there will be some real estate unfinished in every region of the mainland, and this is due to the lack of capital chain, which will lead to the project being delayed indefinitely until a new capital flow intervenes.
On the other hand, because of the regional infrastructure, the pricing and other aspects are too high, so that many residents have some daunting thoughts in their minds, but in any case, it is one of the necessary elements that cause the land to be sparsely populated.
It is precisely because of the combination of two factors that Kangbashi New District has become a new area that many people dare not agree with, but even so, the local government still did not give up, but set an example and directly turned the tide and wanted to continue to complete the original population drainage.
On the one hand, they relocated some hard office addresses to the new district, so as to build one of the best hospitals in Inner Mongolia in the region, and its resources and equipment are extremely advanced and perfect.
Not only that, they also chose the address of a famous local university in Kangbashi New District, so that after attracting important resources such as education and medical care, many residents began to move to the new district because of the proximity of school district housing and medical resources.
In addition, the local government also intervened in a timely manner to freeze all unstarted and unfinished real estate projects, pooled all undisposed real estate resources, and introduced a policy of relocating the old city to one household, so as to guide most residents to move to the new area.
It has to be said that under the timely leadership of local cadres, the Kangbashi area has also rapidly recovered its economy within a few years, and it seems that the whole city has gradually become a fireworks atmosphere overnight, and even the local ecological construction has gradually become perfect.
You must know that an area like Ordos is also a treasure of feng shui, because it is backed by mountains and surrounded by lakes on three sides, so that both Ordos and Kangbashi have become successfully improved ecological civilization cities in a short period of time.
Not only that, as of 2022, Kangbashi District's GDP has jumped to 13.116 billion yuan, an increase of 4.5%, while other output values such as industry, construction and service industries are also maintaining a growth scene.
Even in terms of population, today's Kangbashi District is maintained at 124,500 people per year, and even because of the urban environment, under the ecological environment such as their continuous construction of green parks, Kangbashi District has been rated as a tourist city.
Because the region has not only built relatively complete resources in all aspects, but has even created many novel industries dominated by the technology industry, thus realizing the first city dominated by 5G unmanned driving.
In 2012, it successfully declared the country's first national 4A-level scenic spot with urban landscape as the carrier, and such an honor can be said to be unprecedented, and it is a side show that the area as a whole is a tourist city attraction.
In 2019, Kangbashi District was successfully awarded the honorary title of "China's Best Green Leisure Tourism Area in the New Era" at the International Summit on Culture and Tourism, and it is also a national greening model unit and a national ecological civilization construction demonstration area
Such an honor, coupled with the perfect infrastructure in the area, has successfully led to the development of local tourism, and in a few years, it has successfully taken off the label of "ghost town".
The Hidden "Golden City"
In fact, Ordos has always been a hidden mineral resources city, because of the advantages of the geographical environment, there are more than 50 kinds of mineral resources under Ordos, of which coal occupies the vast majority.
It is precisely because of its abundant resources that every time Ordos can continue to use new resources in the development stage, it is as if God is rushing to feed it, and its unique advantages make Ordos's economic development always rank among the best.
Even the region's annual per capita GDP has always maintained the top 10 in the country, and its strength is not to be underestimated with some first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and this is only one aspect.
Because the region also relied on animal husbandry earlier, it is also a city that mainly produces cashmere, and the region produces 3,300 tons of cashmere every year, which shows how rich the resources of its cashmere industry are.
Not only that, the vegetation and soil resources in the area are also extremely rich, and there are even hundreds of wild seed plants, and even netizens say: "Ordos is a treasure city".
The natural gas resources of Ordos occupy 1/3 of the country's total natural gas, with more than 800 billion square meters of proven reserves, such strength is really not to be underestimated, so under such abundant resources, it is difficult for the region not to develop.
Now, after ten years of history, the Kangbashi District of Ordos, which was once ridiculed as a "ghost town" by foreign media, has already raised its eyebrows, and the results of this effort are not only shameful, but also show its advantages again to the whole country.
Even netizens ridiculed: "The eyebrows raised in Kangbashi District are simply fateful, because this just corresponds to the sheep coal and local gas they are rich in", which shows that their development in the future should not be underestimated.
Author's point of view
Once in the eyes of foreign media, Ordos was ridiculed as a "ghost town", but now it has long been transformed into a vibrant green city, and even the city as a whole has been rated as a 4A-level tourist city, which shows that its overall development can also stand up to consideration.
In just 10 years, the Ordos people have successfully built a beautiful new city on the wasteland with their national perseverance, thus forming a beautiful landscape, which is really admirable.
Resources:
[1] 美国《时代》.《Ordos, China: A Modern Ghost Town》（2010）
[2] 英国BBC.《Ordos: The Biggest Ghost Town in China》（2012）
[3] National Business Daily. "Ordos "Throwing Money and Asking for People", Who Goes?(2021-09-09)
However, in order to improve the readability of the article, there may be polishing of the details, please read sensibly, for reference only!
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