Newsletter: "Desert Town" Kangbashi transformed into "Happiness Town": "Empty City Has Been Yesterday"

　　China News Service Ordos, June 20 Electric question: "Desert Town" Kangbashi transformed into "Happy Town": "Empty City Has Become Yesterday"

　　China News reporter Li Aiping

　　The whole town was almost enveloped by the "garden", and the streets were as clean as washing. As night fell, a huge fountain rose into the sky. At the glorious place, Kangbashi, a small town in western China, has moved away from the "empty city" 10 years ago.

　　In the middle and late June, this small town in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, even under the epidemic, still glowed with unique charm.

The picture shows the landscape of Khampa in the night. Photo by Li Zhenhao

　　"There is no doubt that this is a city of happiness, a city of tourism." 74-year-old Qiao Yuntai especially enjoys the life in front of him. At this moment, he sits in his 120-square-meter house and "remembers bitterness and sweetness."

　　"I started living here when I was a kid. At that time, there was a desert. The people's lives were very poor. Who would have thought that this place will become so prosperous now." Qiao Yuntai said, "Xiaokang life has been realized here."

　　Qiao Yuntai, a retired and idle at home, spends his day like this: getting up at 5 in the morning and starting to exercise. After the exercise, go home and eat early, go to the park in the afternoon, watch TV at night, and live a very leisurely day.

　　"Now there is no shortage of food or clothing." He pointed to the three freezers in his house and said, "There are all kinds of chicken, duck and fish meat, and every day my wife and I want to eat whatever we want."

　　After living well, Qiao Yuntai almost traveled all over China. He said: "If you don't consider the high altitude, you should go to Tibet."

　　"Kangbashi is now truly a well-off city." Tian Guishu, a 58-year-old veteran, said of Kangbashi's changes: "The earthy house becomes a high-rise building, everything is incredible."

The picture shows the urban landscape of Kangbashi District. Photo courtesy of Kangbashi District Government

　　However, what made Tian Guishu tangled was the "misreading" of Kangbashi from various circles in the past few years. "Many people think that this is an empty city, and they also label it "ghost city". I will argue with them that a process is needed. ""This process is gradually developing in Kangbashi. All the previous statements have vanished."

　　The fact is that Kangbashi is now heading forward as the "identity" of the national 4A-level tourist attractions.

　　"Kangbashi is also a small tourist city." Tian Guishu told reporters, "There are many domestic and foreign tourists here every year on vacation, these tourists come and do not want to go, some people say that Kangbashi has the taste of European cities."

　　The official information of Kangbashi District shows that the urban green area of ​​Kangbashi District is 1535 hectares, the green area rate is 38.5%, and the air quality days of the year are more than 300 days. It is rated as "National Ecological Civilization Demonstration Zone".

　　It is worth mentioning that the small town of Kangbashi has also hosted activities such as the United Nations Conference on Combating Desertification, the China-New Zealand International Film Festival, the Asian Arts Festival, and the International Naadam, which has shown the world the unique charm of quality cities.

　　The small town of Kangbashi, which took the tourist car, received a total of 3.341 million tourists in 2019, an increase of 16% year-on-year, and achieved a comprehensive tourism income of 1.093 billion yuan, an increase of 20.54% year-on-year.

　　Zhu Yanmei, a graduate of Xi'an Medical College, said in an interview, "When I was young, my biggest wish was to have a separate bedroom and study hard."

The small town of Kangbashi surrounded by gardens. Photo by Li Zhenhao

　　"Now these have been achieved, many of my foreign students see the changes in the Kangbashi small town today and say, where is this empty city, clearly a happy city." Zhu Yanmei told reporters, "This is also my decision to return to my hometown after graduation The most important reason."

　　What Zhu Yanmei did not expect was that when she was a child, she wanted to have a bicycle. Now she drives a Land Rover to work in her pharmacy every day.

　　"Happiness is a must, and the cultural atmosphere of this city is also improving." Zhu Yanmei said, "Every weekend, many people in local libraries and Xinhua Bookstores choose to study or participate in activities."

　　On the morning of the 20th, a reading meeting held in a local log bookstore also corroborated Zhu Yanmei's statement.

　　She said that the former "desert city" has become more cultural and more connotative. (Finish)