Yinchuan takes leap in industrial, commercial development

This scribe has visited most of China but this was the first visit to Yinchuan, which came as a pleasant surprise. Having visited the most advanced cities and provinces to the East and still developing ones in the West, Yinchuan was like a whiff of fresh air. It was expected that being a province where the ethnic minority group Hui reside, it will be a backward place. Seeing is believing and the truth is to the contrary.

The first place of visit the Yinchuan Hall of Citizens was an eye opener. Under one roof, all the basic requirements of a citizen are being met with the utmost ease. From Travel documents, to identification card to business licenses, at the click of a button, the document is printed, signed and received, saving the citizens’ time, botheration and cutting bureaucratic red tape. It was amazing.

The Urban Management Command Center appeared to be a scene from a space age movie. The concept of a smart city, which till now was a figment of the imagination, is now a reality, utilizing information technology and big data. Yinchuan has been transformed into a futuristic city, promoting development pattern, improving economic structure, optimization and upgrading to the concept of a smart city.

Yinchuan closely surrounds four cores of information benefitting the people, scientific management, industry derivation and returns on investment, and generates five characteristics of mode, management mode, technical architecture, system guarantee and local legislation. It has evolved its own unique features in construction of modules in 10 key areas of smart government affairs, smart transportation, smart environmental protection and so on. The net result is a quantum leap in the quality of life of the people focusing on health, education, environment and security with a proactive approach rather than a reactive outlook. 

Guests in front of the Yinchuan urban planning exhibition hall. [Photo: CRI Online/Yan Guanchao]

At the Yinchuan urban planning exhibition hall, 4500 years of history has been painstakingly preserved and provide the visitor a vivid glimpse of the evolution from prehistoric nomadic practices to warlike phases and the current futuristic one. A panoramic display using carious dimensions of display through artful photography, carefully choreographed with the aid of lights and sounds provides a breathtaking presentation, worthy of a modern urban living center.

Visit to a smart community center was equally thrilling. China has long been blamed for neglecting the environment and contributing to pollution. Smart communities utilize smart techniques of garbage disposal, ensuring reduction in noise and atmospheric pollution and emphasizing on green city dwelling, supporting the ecological balances rather than disturbing them.

It was discovered that the wisdom palace book store presents online books in Arabic on various aspects of Chinese history, culture, education, folklore, economics and literature. The advent of wisdom place translator from Chinese to Arabic and vice versa is a welcome addition to translation tools.

A description of the concept of reversible traffic lanes, depending on the type and congestion of traffic is not new but is fully operational in the busy metropolis of Yinchuan.

Madam Wang Wei, the local Minister for Publicity hosted a sumptuous banquet. The high point of the evening was a tour of the Yue Hai Gulf. The lake with its picturesque walkway and a boat ride on the lake was very welcome but the grand finale was the spectacular display with laser lights, sound and water effects to project the history of the Ancient Silk Road, which is now being transformed into the One Belt One Road mega project which will bring prosperity and development not just to China but the entire region and a sizable part of the globe.