Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

Before it became a place of healing, Songwan village in Central China's Hubei province was defined by what fell from above.

"On sunny days, it was a choking dust so thick you couldn't keep your eyes open," said 57-year-old Zuo Zijian, a lifelong resident of the village. On rainy days, the roads dissolved into a sea of mud.

Songwan is located in Daye city of Hubei. With 500 active mines, grit coated every windowsill in villages like this one. But the mineral wealth that built modern China eventually left the landscape exhausted. By 2008, Daye was designated a "resource-depleted city" by the State Council, forcing a choice: succumb to industrial decay or reinvent the very pits that once fueled the nation.

Today, the air in Songwan is noticeably cleaner, and the once-barren hills are blanketed with green trees.

The drastic change has happened following the transformation of the Baosheng mining pit near the village into a state-of-the-art hydrogen factory.

Daye's pivot from a "mining capital" to a hub for green energy aligns with China's newly released outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

As the central government targets a 17 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030, Daye is attempting to turn the scars of years of mining into high-tech assets for the nation's burgeoning green hydrogen economy.

For Daye, long a cornerstone of China's mining industry, healing its deep "ecological scars" left by mining can provide ecological, economic and social benefits.