In north China’s Shanxi Province, a number of coal companies are changing their stripes. They’ve turned from digging the land to become promoters of the province’s spectacular landscape. They’re investing heavily in tourist sites and some are finding it more lucrative than mining.
The expansive view of Mianshan Mountain. One of the many natural wonders of Shanxi; which litterally means Western Mountains.
2,500 years ago this is where Jie Zitui roamed as a hermit after quitting his job as a chancellor to the King of Jin Kingdom of the day.
Today a million tourists a year trek here, thanks to a coal company. In 1995, the Sanjia Group, invested about sixty million yuan turning the mountain into one of China’s top tourist attractions.
The Mianshan covers an area of about 75 square kilometers. Its management company says the business brings in hundreds of millions of yuan a year, and employs more than a thousand people.
"When the chairman raised the idea of investing in tourist site construction, many people didn’t agree. But they were finally convinced. The chairman knew early that the coal market wouldn’t always be good. Now the tourism industry has become an indispensable part of our business, providing very important revenue," said Du Guohua, deputy manager of Sanjia Group, Jiexiu city.
Du says revenue from tourism makes up about 60 percent of the company’s total revenue -- a decade ago it was just 10 percent.
The Shanxi Tourist Bureau says that as of 2013, more than 200 resource companies have followed Sanjia’s lead and invested about 32 billion yuan ($51.6 billion) in tourism projects.
"Shanxi has rich coal resources as well as tourist resources. How to combine the two is what the government is now working on. Resource companies can bring sufficient capital for the development of tourism industry. And in turn, the tourism industry will provide resource companies long-term and stable revenue," said Wang Wenbao, deputy direcor of Shanxi Tourist Bureau.
Experts warn that building environmentally friendly tourist sites requires a different mindset than mining coal; and cannot be done blindly. Complete environmental assessments and market research are essential for coal miners planning to cater to tourist and nature’s beauty.