suggests that the great Chinese building boom, which did so much to
fuel the country's astonishing economic growth, is over. Is a bubble
about toburst?
A huge statue of the mighty warrior Genghis Khan presides over
GenghisKhan Plaza in Ordos New Town. The square is vast, fading into
the snowy mist on a recent Sunday morning.
Genghis Khan Plaza is flanked by huge and imposing buildings.
Two giant horses from the steppes rise on their hind legs in the
centre of the Plaza, statues which dwarf the great Khan himself.
Only one element is missing from this vast ensemble - people.
There are only two or threeof us in this immense townscape. Because
this is Ordos, a place that has been called the largest ghost town in
China.
Most of the new town buildings are empty or unfinished. The rampant
apartment blocks are full ofunsold flats.
It is a spectacular example of a new Chinese phenomenon, in many
cities - unsold flats,unlet shops, empty office blocks"
If you want to find a place where China's huge housing bubble has
alreadyburst, then Ordos is the place to come.
The story started about 20 years ago, with the beginning of a great
Mongolian coal rush.
Private mining companies poured into the green Inner Mongolian steppe
lands, pock-marking the landscape with enormous opencast holes in the
ground, or tunnelling underground.
Local farmers sold their land to the miners, and became instantly
rich. Jobs burgeoned. Ceaseless coal truck convoys tore up the roads.
And the old city of Ordos flourished as the money flowed in.
The municipality decided to think big, too.
It laid out plans for a huge new town for hundreds of thousands of
residents, with Genghis Khan Plaza atthe centre of it.
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:-> :->
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