In Ningxia, a chateau blends fruit of vine with rocks of desert

YINCHUAN - With its old stone buildings, tile roofs, ancient sculptures, ceilings of cork and a table made of a century-old cart wheel, the Yuanshi chateau at the eastern foot of the Helan Mountains in northwest China offers unique surroundings to wine lovers.

"We built the chateau with stones from the Gobi Desert," says Yuan Yuan, 26, owner of the Yuanshi chateau in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Yuan returned to her hometown after graduation, eager to pass down the winemaking skills and secrets of her father's generation.

Starting from scratch and facing competitive global wine brands, the green vineyards of Yuan's winery are interlaced with mounds of stones, distinguishing it from typical grape cultivation bases. For Yuan and her father, the stones are a vestige of the Gobi mining age in Ningxia.