Yumen is located in the desolate Gansu Province and is now under the jurisdiction of Jiuquan City.
The first oil field in China's history was mined here, 20 years earlier than the famous oil city of Daqing, Heilongjiang.
After the successful development of the oil field, Yumen vigorously developed heavy industry.
At that time, the government set up an oil management bureau here, and the small city was beautiful for a while.
But who would have expected that the population of Yumen today has plummeted.
The old town, once bustling with people, has become depressed and deserted.
The permanent population has been evacuated, and a 90-square-meter house can be easily obtained at a cost of 10,000 yuan.
The glorious city of the past is like an weathered wall, decaying and peeling off, and how to tell the pain of the city with depleted resources?
"City of Black Gold"
The rise of Yumen began on August 11, 1939. On that day, China's first oil well produced 10 tons of oil per day at the Laojun Temple in Yumen, breaking the Western world's belief that "there can be no oil underground in China".
This discovery was not only of great economic significance, but also provided valuable strategic materials for the front line during the Sino-Japanese War.
In the ten years from 1939 to 1949, the Yumen Oilfield produced 520,000 tons of crude oil, making great contributions to China's War of Resistance and Liberation.
In 1955, Yumen became the mainland's first large-scale oil production base. In just two years, crude oil production here accounted for the vast majority of the country's total production, more than eighty percent.
This once obscure town has risen rapidly thanks to the oil industry. With a booming population, it soon became one of the medium-sized cities and an important cradle for the development of China's petroleum industry.
Yumen not only produces oil, but also trains a large number of excellent oil workers. The most famous of these is Wang Jinxi, known as the "Iron Man", whose deeds have inspired generations of oil workers.
With the passage of time, the talents cultivated by Yumen have spread all over the country's major oil fields. According to incomplete statistics, tens of thousands of technical backbones alone have been transported to Daqing, Sichuan, Changqing and other places, making great contributions to the vigorous development of the mainland's petroleum industry.
Entering the 80s, the prosperity of Yumen reached its peak. The high standard of living of the local residents has earned the city the reputation of "Little Hong Kong in the West".
One long-time resident recalled: "Our life was so nourishing back then. There are all kinds of modern appliances at home, and you can eat whatever you want. The welfare of the unit is very good, and even water, electricity and heating do not cost money. "
The sinking of a city
However, the good times were short-lived. At the end of the 90s, the Yumen oilfield gradually entered a period of depletion. Production fell sharply, and the former "city of black gold" began to decline.
In 1998, production fell to a record low of 380,000 tonnes. At the beginning of the 21st century, the annual output was only maintained at about 400,000 tons, and the remaining recoverable reserves were only about 4 million tons. The once "black gold" is gradually drying up.
The depletion of oil resources has brought not only economic difficulties, but also the explosion of a series of social problems. Due to the over-dependence of the economy on the oil industry, other industries are underdeveloped to support the city's economy.
In 2001, five enterprises in Yumen went bankrupt and seven closed down. The "Yujiao" brand Yuanming powder, which had been awarded the national excellent product, was declared bankrupt due to the high cost, becoming another victim of industrial simplification.
This was followed by a massive exodus of people. Since 1995, nearly 60,000 Yumen oilfield workers and their families have been relocated to Daqing, Xinjiang and other places.
Reforms at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have made matters worse, with more than 8,600 workers laid off between 1998 and 2003. In 2003, more than 30,000 oilfield workers left the old city and moved 100 kilometers east to Jiuquan City.
Once-bustling streets have become deserted, and bustling business districts have fallen into depression. Yumen, once the "oil city", is gradually becoming an "abandoned city".
In response to this dilemma, in 2003, the Yumen leadership made a controversial decision: to move the administrative center to a small town dozens of kilometers away, where a new urban area was planned.
An unfinished "last stand"
This decision involves not only the relocation of the city government, but also the relocation of the Yumen Petroleum Administration.
The latter chose the city of Jiuquan as the new site, which is more than 100 kilometers away from the original site. This large-scale migration was described by locals as a "shipbreaker" in Yumen.
However, it backfired. Far from bringing about the expected economic recovery, the effort to revitalize Yumen appears to have hastened the decline of the original city.
The permanent population has plummeted from a peak of 135,000 to 15,000-20,000, with the elderly and a small number of indigenous people left behind. While some oil workers still live here on weekdays, the city becomes even more deserted on weekends.
There is no better indicator of the rise and fall of a city than housing prices. In the old town of Yumen, a 90-square-meter house can be bought for as little as 10,000 yuan, and the average is only about 100 yuan per square meter.
What's even more embarrassing is that in the early days of the relocation in 2003, the price of each house was even as low as 2,000 yuan. A homeowner said helplessly: "The 90-square-meter house that originally cost 65,000 yuan is now sold for 10,000 yuan, but no one wants it." "
Not only that, but the infrastructure of the old town is also aging. In some areas, there are frequent water and electricity outages, and the heating supply has become a major problem.
The lack of public services is even worse, and the lack of medical and educational resources has made the lives of left-behind residents even worse. Environmental problems are also becoming increasingly prominent, and problems such as soil erosion and surface water pollution need to be solved urgently.
The road to transformation
Faced with the crisis brought about by the depletion of resources, Yumen began a difficult industrial transformation. The municipal government has set its sights on the field of new energy, especially the development and utilization of wind and solar energy.
In the second half of 2009, a large-scale wind power project broke ground in Yumen, an important milestone in the development of the new energy industry in the region. In the years that followed, wind turbines sprung up, bringing new life to the once oil city.
At the same time, Yumen is also actively introducing other industries to diversify its economy.
In 2019, a chemical company from Jiangsu settled here, providing new jobs and a source of tax revenue for the local area. This indicates that Yumen is also seeking breakthroughs in the field of traditional industries.
Recently, Yumen has also made progress in energy storage technology. In the summer of 2023, the construction of an innovative energy storage project began, which will not only help solve the problem of instability of new energy power generation, but also win an opportunity for Yumen to compete in the future energy field.
At the same time of industrial transformation, Yumen has not forgotten to tap its own cultural resources. The local government has worked hard to make the old town a unique tourist destination, highlighting the historical heritage of its oil industry.
An interactive oil-themed experience hall has been created, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the city's glorious past.
Interestingly, the desolate scene of the old town of Yumen attracted many film and television crews to come to shoot and shoot, adding a touch of "apocalyptic romance" to the city.
However, the road to transformation has not been easy. Although the new energy industry has developed, it remains to be tested whether it can truly become a pillar industry. The development of tourism is more like a helpless move, and the economic benefits that can be brought are limited.
Today's Yumen, especially the old city, is still struggling to find a way out. What was once a bustling street is now filled with only a few pedestrians.
Many of the buildings are dilapidated, and some are even dilapidated. However, in this seemingly inhospitable land, there are still some tenacious lives holding on.
74-year-old Uncle Li is one of the few left-behind residents in the old city. "I've lived here for most of my life, and I can't bear to leave," he said.
Although the conditions are a little worse now, I have too many memories here. Uncle Li would go to the nearby small square every morning to exercise, and occasionally play chess and chat with a few old friends.
In one corner of the old town, there is another noodle restaurant that has been open for decades. Master Wang, the owner, said: "Business is much worse, but there are still some regular customers. They said that my pasta here tasted like home, so I kept it open. "
Despite the difficulties, the future of Yumen is not bleak. With the development of the new energy industry, Yumen has become the fifth largest wind power base in China and the largest wind power base in Gansu.
New energy projects such as photovoltaic and solar thermal have been continuously implemented, injecting new vitality into the city.
In September 2024, a 700,000 kilowatt "solar thermal energy storage + photovoltaic + wind power" demonstration project will be connected to the grid at full capacity, marking another big step forward for Yumen in the field of new energy.
In addition, the hydrogen energy industry is also quietly emerging in Yumen. PetroChina's large-scale renewable energy hydrogen production project in the Yumen oilfield provides new possibilities for Yumen's industrial transformation.
The government is also sparing no effort to support the development of Yumen. A series of talent introduction policies have been introduced to provide housing subsidies for highly educated talents.
Investment in infrastructure has continued to increase, and the business environment has continued to improve. The establishment of special funds has provided strong support for youth entrepreneurship.
At the same time, the government is also promoting the extension of the industrial chain, such as the development of photovoltaic glass production, to enhance the competitiveness of the industry.
The story of Yumen is a microcosm of many resource-based cities in China. Its rise and fall reflects the opportunities and challenges in the process of China's industrialization.
From the "city of oil" to the verge of "abandoning the city", and then to seeking new development, Yumen's experience has taught us many inspirations: urban development should not rely too much on a single resource, but must take a long-term view and take the road of diversification and sustainable development.
Today, standing at a new historical node, Yumen is striving to seize the strategic opportunities of the new energy revolution and the development of the western region to promote high-quality development.
Although the road ahead is still full of challenges, the people of Yumen are writing a new chapter for the city with perseverance. Perhaps in the near future, we will see a rejuvenated Yumen, rising again on the Gobi Desert.
Sources of information:
China Youth Daily: Let Yumen become a dream city for young people
China News Network: Yumen: Green new energy "wind" and "light" are infinitely good
Xinhua Finance client: Is the house price of 28 yuan/㎡ the lowest point of housing prices in China?
Beijing News: Yumen: No longer the days of "one oil dominance".
Guangming.com: The former oil city is now full of spring - the transformation road of Yumen, a resource-based city
China Youth Network: Known as the "world outlet", how did the city counterattack?