GREEN REVOLUTION SEES COUNTY BLOSSOM

After a logging ban was imposed, local residents turned to eco-tourism to boost incomes. Hou Liqiang reports from Arxan, Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The lumber industry was once the pillar of Arxan, a county in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where it was common for two and even three generations of local families to be involved in the sector.

The country is now promoting environmental protection, though, so logging was banned in 2012. However, instead of damaging the local economy, the ban has opened a new chapter for green development.