Wine industry booms

The construction landscape changes just outside the Minning settlement, with glimpses of Ningxia's wine industry emerging.

More than the factories, the chateaus - complete with gardens and French-style stone architecture - catch the eye. The gray houses in Minning and the lush, plush wine estates on its periphery provide a hard-to-miss contrast.

It is estimated that Ningxia produces more than 100,000 metric tons of wine a year, and the region hopes to create an area reminiscent of Bordeaux, France, near the Helan Mountains.

Two female employees at a wine bottling factory outside Minning - Xie Wenwen, 24, who assesses quality, and Yang Shuxun, 48, a cleaner, said they relocated in recent years from Longde with their families. Yang added that she came to Minning in a group of 179 people.

The factory's annual output is 3,000 tons, according to a company executive, who also displayed a model for a future "wine town".