Warm, ecological Ordos brings love to the world

Photovoltaic panels are seen on the Dalad solar farm, Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region July 15, 2023. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Having experienced wireless cell phone charges using solar power when taking a break on a bench and visiting the country's top cashmere products manufacturer, members of the 2023 "A Date with China" international media tour said they felt the warmth the city had extended to them.

Ordos, lying in the middle-west of Inner Mongolia autonomous region and the hinterland of the Yellow River, is rich in resources and ecological in development. Boasting one sixth of coal and one third of natural gas of the country's known reserves, the city has made the foray into clean power with a solar power station made of 196,000 photovoltaic panels, certified by Guinness World Records.

Dalad solar farm, located in the belly of China's seventh desert – the Kubuqi Desert, generates as much as two billion kilowatt-hours of "green power" annually, saving 680,000 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.65 million tons per year. The project has restored as much as 60,000 mu of the coverage of Kubuqi Desert that can be used to grow some traditional Chinese medicine plants and forage grass.

Members of the 2023 "A Date with China" international media tour take photos of goat display items during a visit to Ordos Group, Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region July 15, 2023. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

With 22 percent of the country's cashmere output, Ordos has been dubbed as the "Cashmere City of China" with Erdos Group as the nation's leading cashmere enterprise.

Founded in 1980, the group witnessed and participated in China's reform and open-up process, and became an early trend leader domestically and went global in the early 1990s. Now the group has a brand value of about 156.57 billion yuan, ranking the first in China's textile and clothing industry for 17 years in a row.

The local Albas goat produces high-end cashmere, no wider than 14.5 microns. This size of the cashmere feels super comfortable and has been picked as material for state gifts for international distinguished guests.