Minning Town, a Chinese miracle thanks to Fujian and Ningxia

 In early 2021, Minning town in Ningxia Region was a seemingly ordinary town unknown to most Chinese people. Suddenly, thanks to a 23-episode TV series of the same name it became famous for its decades-long won battle against poverty.

The TV series has quickly made a splash online since its broadcast on several satellite TV channels. Viewers were shocked by the barren, sand-covered land and the extreme poverty shown at the beginning of the TV series.

But no more.

Nowadays, Minning has become a beautiful town with a dense growth of evergreen trees. And its people are living a much better life.

The number of residents increased from 8000 to 66,000, and their income increased significantly from RMB 500 in 1997 to RMB 14,961 in 2020. Nearly 30 times!

Minning Town started from scratch, but what it achieved is more than inspiring.

The development journey started at a conference on poverty alleviation held by China’s State Council in 1996.

It was decided that 10 developed provinces in East China joined hands with 10 developing regions in West China to eradicate absolute poverty.

Fujian province was appointed to support Ningxia.

The Fujian-Ningxia resettlement program suggested that a few villages from poorer areas migrating to places near the Yellow River. And Minning was one of the resettlement destinations.

Local officials there decided to build Minning Village within two years, secure adequate food and clothing within three years, and complete the mission of eradicating absolute poverty as scheduled.

For more than 20 years, Fujian has not only brought funds and projects to impoverished areas in Ningxia, but also taught useful development philosophy and work mechanisms.

These government workers, teachers, technical personnel, medical workers and young volunteers from Fujian were fully devoted to their mission in Ningxia, solving one and another tough problem for those in poverty.

They worked together with locals to eradicate absolute poverty and through the construction of Minning Town, people in Fujian and Ningxia became one family.

At the beginning of the relocation, Minning Town suffered from severe shortage of water and electricity, a harsh climate, and weak infrastructure. The land was so barren and sandy, that people had to clear the sands before they could plant anything.

The houses and walls would collapse in heavy rain, and mountain torrents were also a constant threat.

But people never gave up.

They overcame many difficulties to better the environment, exploring multiple ways to get rid of poverty, and finally reformed the “dry sand field” into a “golden field”.

Today, Minning Village has turned into a small town and the area has transformed from a desert to a lively small city.

Xie Xingchang, the original Funing Village leader in Minning Town, adapted his stories for the leading role in the mentioned TV series.

He was among the first to move to Minning from impoverished areas in Ningxia.

At that time, their destination seemed hopeless. The soil was infertile, water was running dry, the climate very harsh as well.

People were reluctant to stay and prepared to return to their hometown. When Xie heard of their difficulties, he informed the villagers of government policies and finally persuaded 13 homes to stay.

He’s now 66 years-old and has just left his position as village leader.

Many people in Minning Town, especially the women, know about Ms. Liu. She has quite a reputation even in Yinchuan City, Ningxia.

In 2017, Liu Yaming arrived to Mining Town as an intangible heritage inheritor to establish workshops for women with support of local government. Her mission was to create jobs and increase income for villagers in poverty.

Women employed by these workshops would produce tourism goods and make handicrafts with techniques held dear by intangible cultural heritage.

This industry helps to change villagers’ mentalities, teaching them more skills so that they can rely on their own hands to create better lives.

The people in Mining Town spare no effort to tell stories of their own lives to tourists.

Their true feelings and sincere language touch every tourist.

Development is the foundation of steady increase of income in Minning Town. Today, the township has developed a new business pattern, including planting, farming, photovoltaic technology, labor dispatch and tourism.

Minning Town has built 13 wineries.

According to estimation, its grape planting area has reached more than 100,000 mu (1 mu=666 square meters). It has also developed a complete agricultural production chain that covers farming, processing and sale, for beef cattle, dairy cattle and chicken.

Local government has redoubled its efforts to boost employment rate by offering skill training courses to those in financial difficulty, and strengthening collaboration between labor markets of different regions.

Minning Town is also committed to developing integrated tourism at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain.

Movies, TV series and other cultural works and resources have effectively promoted local tourism. Ming Dynasty Great Wall site, Yuan Long Village Complex, visitor distribution center, special tourism goods, well-designed tourist line are all part of the township’s efforts to attract visitors.

There are also sponsored sports events for tourists such as Helan Mountain Cycling Competition and Helan Mountain Wine Marathon, etc..

What Minning town is trying to achieve in tourism is to reform itself to be a new tourist attraction of diverse elements, such as sports, health, movies, red wine, leisure, agriculture, etc..

Minning Town’s main industries include photovoltaic power generation, photovoltaic-supported-agriculture, farming of beef cattle, grape plating, red raspberries planting, flower cultivation and mushroom planting, making it possible to develop a tourism pattern that combines countryside sightseeing and leisure.

A few featured tourist lines are well received among tourists.

For example, the new tourist line of “Minning Historical Museum + Horticultural Village + Zhao Hong Farmer’s House + Minning Family + button mushroom planting sightseeing” is becoming a tourist favorite.

During the Spring Festival and May Day holiday, Minning Town would host 3,000 people per day on average.

With relocation projects and a series of economic measures, the area has transformed from a desert to a paradise, exemplifying China’s effort to eliminate poverty.

When you look at the endless vineyards, wineries and redberry planting bases under Helan Mountain, you cannot imagine that it used to be labeled as one of the most uninhabitable areas for human settlement by the United Nations.

The residents here have created a miracle.