There are ghost towns everywhere. They are throughout the world. Many are interesting and can be visited.
There are many towns that have turned into ghost towns that have an interesting history or look.
Here are 5 interesting ghost towns in China.
1. Yumen Ghost Town
Yumen ghost town is located in Jiayuguan Shi, China. It is near the Gobi Desert; it used to be a busy oil city with a peak population of 300,000. This district became abandoned when oil output went down. “The town’s history dates back to the early 20th-century, when the Kuomintang regime dispatched a group of geologists to China’s barren northwest to prospect for oil. In 1939, oil was discovered in Yumen. The first oil well of China was constructed here soon after.” In the 1980s, the population of Yumen had expanded to 300,000 with 100,000 of them being oil workers. The oil business in Yumen was booming until the oil production decreased in the late 1900s and early 2000s. As oil production decreased and the environmental conditions got worse, people started moving to nearby cities. Soon in 2003, the city government moved to the new city of Yumen, leaving most of the old city uninhabited. “Surprisingly, the oil production never came to a full stop. Today the old Yumen remains occupied by approximately 15,000 residents, most of whom are oil veterans who refused to move and a few current workers. Both now live in a concentrated residential zone a few miles north of the ghost town.” Occasionally, Yumen makes national headlines because of the low real estate prices but few visit.
2. Tianducheng
Tianducheng is located in Hangzhou, China. Tianducheng is a gated community that is Paris-themed. In Tianducheng, there is a replica of the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysee. “Tianducheng, a district of east coast China’s Hangzhou, is a real estate development which began around 2007 boasting all the charm of Paris, minus the crowds.” It was made to house around 10,000 people but only 2,000 people live there. A lot of people think this is because of the location. It is 40 minutes away from Hangzhou’s downtown area and also wedged in the middle of farmlands. To make it seem more like France, there is a 300 ft. replica of the Eiffel Tower, fake Parisian restaurants to replicate the Champs Elysee, a “Chapel of Love” for couples to pose in front of, and a chateau on a hill. Although meant to invoke the feeling of romance, it is more eerie and depressing as there aren’t many people there, and locals have started to hang their laundry on stone busts of poets. The stores are fake, they are merely walls painted to look like stores. It’s a depressing place but it would be an interesting place to check out.
3. China’s Wonderland
China’s Wonderland is located in Beijing, China. There were cornfields among a wide empty landscape. Developers wanted to turn this landscape into an amusement park. “More than a decade ago, developers wanted to change that by turning 100 acres of the barren land into the largest amusement park in Asia, Wonderland.” Disputes over money and land made construction stop midway through. The construction was advanced and so there was a smaller castle and a bigger castle made. The smaller castle was able to maintain its pastel colors for longer than the big castle. After being abandoned, farmers reclaimed the land and worked in the cornfields. This site is not open to the public and most of the buildings were torn down though reports say that the castle still stands.
4. Dinosaur Fairyland
Dinosaur Fairyland is located in Xilin Gol, China. Dinosaur Fairyland is a remote theme park/museum. There are dozens of full-scale dinosaur models and bones. There are many photo opportunities in Dinosaur Fairyland as there are dinosaurs smashing walls and hatching from eggs. It is in a remote location, 20 km outside the town of Erlian in Inner Mongolia, China. Due to it being in a remote location, the park is barely ever visited and all you’ll see are uniformed men who cross through to get to the bus station. Spelled out across the ground in both English and Mandarin is Dinosaurs Fairyland and you can see this from the top of a nearby hill. “Between the writing, you can see an homage to the kissing dinosaurs found just 15km down the road.” It’s a nice little surprise and I think this is a place I would like to visit in the future.
5. The Fushan Tunnels
The Fushan Tunnels is located in Qingdao, China. Fushan looks down on the port of Qingdao, it was once settled as an Asian outpost by German colonists. These German colonists arrived in 1898 and they brought culture with them. This culture can be seen easily with there being many colonial mansions that stand out against the Chinese architecture. “St. Michael’s Cathedral in the Bavarian Quarter – along with a series of colonial mansions – stands out in sharp contrast against the surrounding Chinese architecture. Then there’s the Tsingtao Brewery, which uses German-inherited techniques to brew what is arguably the finest beer in China.” There were at least three different tunnel networks built, they varied in size, complexity, and facilities. “Some sections consist of bare rock passages leading into look-out points or gun turrets; other portions of the labyrinth are fitted with reinforced bulkhead doors, electric light, and rudimentary air-conditioning.” In 1914, the Germans left back to their homes and the city fell under Japanese Imperial rule until 1922. These tunnels were supposedly used as an artillery depot and special forces training ground during WWII. This was continued during the period of Mao’s Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976. These tunnels have been abandoned ever since. There are many different entrances but many are hidden by rocks and undergrowth.
So there you have it, 5 interesting ghost towns in China. There are most ghost towns but these are 5 that stuck out to me during my research. These are interesting places that look cool and they hold a lot of history behind them. The history behind them is very unique and I think these are some places that I would like to do more research about and maybe visit one day. Maybe you can visit them and research them more too.
