Zhongwei City of Ningxia Builds a Train-themed Hotel to Boost Desert Tourism

Zhongwei City of China’s Ningxia is building the first train hotel themed by a steam locomotive in the desert, so as to enrich experiences of desert tourism.

In Tengger’s Jinshahai Tourism Resort, which covers an area of over 666 hectares, a 455-meter-long green steam locomotive is winding through the desert. Construction personnel are speeding up to modify its internal structure and repaint its surface.

According to Sun Hongyu, Vice General Manager of the resort, the train is a steam locomotive used in the 1950s when Baotou-Lanzhou Railway was open as China’s first desert railway. Repurchased from Zhoengzhou Railway Bureau this year, it’s expected to be made into a train-themed hotel with historical and cultural significance, which promotes a change in desert tourism from sightseeing experience to leisure vacation.

The train has 17 carriages in total. Modified rooms will be designed in different styles and equipped with bars, canteens, air conditioners and private bathrooms to ensure leisure and comfort. The hotel is to be open to tourists in June, 2016.

In the 1950s, experts in desertification control created a way of using straw grids to fix dunes in Shapotou of Zhongwei City in order to ensure safe operation of Baotou-Lanzhou Railway. In recent years, Zhongwei desert tourism dominated by renowned scenic spot of Shapotou has led the trend of desert tourism. The desrt is attracting more and more tourists with programs such as sand sliding, surfing in the desert, riding on camels and exploring the desert.