Elvira Kadyrova, 30 July, Yulin, Shaanxi Province, China
On July 30, a youth delegation from Turkmenistan, comprising representatives of public organizations, bloggers, and leading private news agencies, arrived in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, as part of their visit to China. The delegation was led by Velimyrad Ovezov, Head of the Media Department of the Makhtumkuli Youth Organization of Turkmenistan’s Central Council.
Upon our arrival at the city’s airport, we received an exceptionally warm welcome, as if we were close and esteemed friends. Throughout our visit to Yulin, we were accompanied by Xu Gang, Member of the City’s Standing Committee and Minister of the Publicity Department; Yang Yang, Deputy Mayor of the Yulin Municipal People’s Government; Zhang Xiaorui, Deputy Secretary-General of the Yulin Municipal Government; Ren Xiaochun, Director of the Yulin Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Cooperation Bureau; Lu Qiang, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Cooperation Bureau; and Wang Ying, Head of the Yulin People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Service Center.
The city of Yulin is situated in the northern part of Shaanxi Province, close to the borders with Gansu and Ningxia provinces, and Inner Mongolia. Yulin’s inclusion in the visit program was no coincidence. The region’s economy shares many similarities with Turkmenistan’s. Firstly, Yulin is a vital energy hub, with significant extraction of coal, oil, and natural gas. Additionally, the city possesses substantial potential in renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and hydrogen.
Secondly, Yuyang District in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, stands as a prime example of China’s agricultural transformation. Traditionally associated with desert landscapes and harsh conditions, Yulin has, thanks to state investment and the implementation of modern technologies, evolved into a center of advanced agricultural production. Yulin is an important ecological functional zone within the Yellow River Basin. The Yulin leadership firmly adheres to a policy of “controlling soil in the south and controlling sand in the north.” Over 70 years of continuous effort have resulted in the creation of a 14,000-square-kilometer artificial oasis in the desert. The United Nations has lauded this project as a “miracle in the history of sand control” and a “model for global desertification combat.”
Thirdly, Yulin is renowned for its agricultural resources: it cultivates 46 types of crops, with 23 of these agricultural resources ranking first in the province. Seven major unique industries have developed here, including lamb production, potato cultivation, mountain apples, desert vegetables, coarse grains, red dates, and medicinal raw materials for traditional Chinese medicine.
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The first site we visited was the Yuyang Agricultural Industrial Park, a “scientific and technological demonstration zone for modern agriculture in Yulin City.” This is the only park in Shaanxi Province to have been awarded the title of “Chinese Brand” three times.
In recent years, the park has invested 2 billion yuan in infrastructure, significantly enhancing its comprehensive service level. It has successfully attracted a total of 76 enterprises, including major producers (one leading national enterprise in agricultural industrialization) and 10 small and medium-sized technology enterprises.
The park has implemented a complete production chain for agricultural products, from field cultivation to finished processed goods. The park’s main product lines include potatoes, coarse grains, fodder crops, eggs, and meat products.
Most remarkably, this park serves as a colossal hub for agricultural knowledge. Agronomy professors frequently deliver lectures here, and the producing companies themselves share their developments through an information system, forming a unique knowledge bank. The park has successfully implemented a digital system. We visited the information center of this knowledge bank, where a huge monitor displayed a wealth of information useful to farmers, ranging from weather conditions to market prices of various products.
I inquired with park representatives about the implementation of water-saving technologies, as the rationalization of water resources is also highly relevant for Turkmenistan. The park extensively utilizes drip irrigation, as well as treated recycled water from coal mines. In short, an exchange of experience between the agronomists of the Yuyang District Modern Agriculture Park and Turkmen specialists would be highly beneficial.
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In Yulin, a rich cultural program awaited us. We truly immersed ourselves in and felt the essence of Chinese culture and local flavor.
With our inherent journalistic curiosity and simple human awe, we touched upon the history of ancient China, witnessing a section of the Great Wall of China – Zhenbeitai Terrace, located atop Hongshan Mountain, 4 kilometers north of Yulin City.
This is the largest beacon tower on the Great Wall from the Ming Dynasty, built in the 35th year of the Wanli reign. The bricks of the terrace are made of clay, but they were bonded with a mortar made from rice. In ancient times, it served as an important pass and military observation post.
Zhenbeitai Terrace is square in shape, with four stories and a total height exceeding 30 meters. Originally, a brick and wood observation pavilion stood at the top of the fourth story, but it collapsed at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Each floor of Zhenbeitai Terrace is a brick structure, with observation points and firing slits along its edges.
To the east of Zhenbeitai Terrace is Kuangong City, which was built at the same time. Its circumference is 668 meters, and its area is approximately 2 hectares. It was a place where Mongol and Han officials paid tribute and conducted trade. Kuangong City is also known as “Horse Exchange City,” where northern nomads traded agricultural products and silk fabrics from the Central Plains of ancient China for horses. The city connects with Zhenbeitai Terrace, forming a complete architectural system of the Yulin Great Wall.
Zhenbeitai Terrace is the largest and most impressive beacon tower among the ruins of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. It is known as “one of the three wonders of the Great Wall (Shanhaiguan, Zhenbeitai, and Jiayuguan)” and boasts a history of nearly 400 years.
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In the evening, we enjoyed a stroll along Yulin’s pedestrian street, located in the eastern part of the city. This historic street, approximately 2 kilometers long, is a lively tourist route. Here, one can find food stalls, restaurants, souvenir shops, clothing boutiques, tourist pavilions, and architectural monuments such as the Wenchang Pavilion, Wanfo, Xingmin, and Kaige towers, as well as the Bell Tower and Drum Tower.
Walking through the ancient streets of Yulin, you truly feel the unique charm of this ancient city, about which the great Lao She once said: “Old Yulin is a small Beijing.”
During our walk, we also visited the Yuyang District Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Pavilion. The pavilion’s main exhibits include training rooms dedicated to intangible cultural heritage, an exhibition hall, a sand model with clay sculptures, a small theater, and the “Yuyang” bookstore. The total area of the pavilion is 3407 square meters.
A particular highlight of the exhibition center is its 11 training classrooms – unique craft workshops showcasing traditional applied arts, including stone and wood carving, silver jewelry making, and much more. In the small theater, we enjoyed vibrant performances by singers and musicians who, through music and song, conveyed to us China’s rich historical and cultural heritage.
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The visit of the Turkmen youth delegation to Yulin City was more than just an introductory trip; it was a true immersion into the multifaceted tapestry of China’s development – from energy and agriculture to culture and historical heritage. Yulin demonstrated how it’s possible to effectively combine advanced technologies, careful stewardship of natural resources, and respect for traditions.
///nCa, 31 July, 2025