Day 46: Jinchang City

Our week of visits began with a four hour drive to Jinchang, a city based on its mineral extraction. The city has 400,000 people and is noticeably quieter than Lanzhou with far fewer people and vehicles on the streets. We had lunch with the Vice-Mayor of the city, the regional director for the Foreign Affairs Office and others. The flavour of Jinchang seems to be quite spicy, most of the dishes had some degree of heat, and the local (non-alcoholic) beverage is Jujube juice (sour date juice).

The afternoon was spent looking about the city, for which JNMC, Jinchuan Nonferrous Company is clearly dominant, many of the buildings emblazoned with its logo. The heart of Jinchang is indeed its Nickel Mine. The practice of Open Mining was stopped in the 1980s, but those pits remain and we saw one of them. The tunnels underground which are in use now were visible, but the vehicles were dwarfed by their surroundings. We were shown an exhibition hall about the operations and also shown through one of their extractions plants, a truly mammoth operation.

Later we were taken to Jin Shui Lake (Grey Water Lake), a man-made lake developed to beautify the area. It is fed from the treated waste water of the extraction plant. There are actually six lakes in the 26 hectare park, which is beautifully landscaped. There is a notable lack of recreational areas except for one courtyard bordering on the lake where children ride the hover-boards, capture minnows in the lake, and enjoy the spectacular view.

We headed back to the hotel and were indulged in a banquet with the CEO of JNMC. By the end of it I was quite tired and ready for a long sleep. Tomorrow, to Jia Yuguan.