Environmental migrants find arable land, jobs

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".