Boomtown spin-offs
In nearby communities, the new workers and growth of the industry are changing business operations.
Around 6 pm, dinner service is in full swing at Luo Dongmei's restaurant in Bayantal township, Qahar Right Wing Front Banner. Luo and her husband move between tables, serving customers, many of them employees who have just finished work at neighboring data centers.
"After work in the evening, they come here to eat, have a drink and chat. Shift leaders and foremen at nearby projects often treat their teams to a meal," Luo said.
As business picked up, she and her husband found they could no longer manage the workload alone, so they hired someone to help with food preparation and cleaning.
Luo has been in the restaurant industry for 21 years. She relocated to the current site after the former eatery was demolished to make room for a data center.
The township, located near the national highway and across from the Qahar High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, was once much quieter, she said. Today, traffic is heavier, with more local employees and workers from other parts of China coming and going "like a revolving door".
The center has brought more customers to the restaurant. Daily turnover has risen from around 700 yuan to as much as 3,000 yuan on busy days, Luo said.
The couple have converted rooms on the property into a guesthouse, which currently accommodates 60 to 70 workers.
"In the past, local families relied mainly on farming and raising cattle and sheep, but earnings were limited," Luo said. "Now, more residents are running businesses, restaurants and guesthouses, and their incomes have improved."
A nearby cooperative provides daily necessities and handles parcels for data center workers, some of whom cannot receive deliveries at their workplaces.
Before 2023, Bayantal had only four restaurants, but the number has since risen to 35. The town now has 10 supermarkets and four bathhouses, Du Xile, a member of the town's Party Committee, told Inner Mongolia Daily. Some residents have also turned unused dwellings into guesthouses, opening up another source of income.
