1h from Luoyang! Self-drive to a hidden resort with free entry, beautiful as little Jiangnan

We live in a world driven by energy. Take Beijing as an example: every household's twinkling lights, the abundant fresh food stored in refrigerators, and the cool air from air conditioners on hot summer days all require 25.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. Each year, 95.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity are needed to keep office buildings brightly lit, countless restaurants and factories running normally, and to ensure employment for tens of thousands of people in the city. The city consumes so much electricity, yet its residents do not feel anxious. Because behind these tens of billions of kilowatt-hours lies a mineral that has long existed on Earth—coal—which has been building our lives and serving as the fundamental driving force for the entire society's development.

China is the world's third largest mining country, with about 150,000 mines of various sizes nationwide. There are around 200 single-type mining towns, and even more non-single-type ones. Among these cities, about 70-80% have entered a mature or declining phase. As time passes, more and more pits are abandoned due to resource depletion.

How can these abandoned pits be reborn? One can look to Luoyang Yousheng Mining Tourism Area in Xin'an County. Located within the Yimei Group Xin'an Coal Mine in Shisi Town, Xin'an County, it is the first national 3A-level mining tourism area in Henan Province. It is a theme park-style attraction that combines coal mine operations, biological specimens, geological fossils, and popular science education.

When people mention coal mines, the first impression is often just one word: dirty. However, Luoyang Yousheng Mining Tourism Area presents a completely different scene. It is a coal mine, yet it does not resemble one. The entire mining area is enveloped in a sea of green and a world of flowers. Previously, this scenic area was also rated as 'China's Most Beautiful Mine'.

Upon entering Luoyang Yousheng Mining Tourism Area, you will feel that you have not come to a coal mining area but rather to a Jiangnan garden. A babbling brook, cascading waterfalls, delicate lotus flowers, eye-catching water lilies, birdsong and floral fragrances—it is like a paradise. The landscape design concept here is actually consistent with the original intention of coal formation.

Over hundreds of millions of years, many places across China have experienced this scene: in warm, humid swampy lowlands, various plants competed to grow, lush and thriving. As water bodies advanced and retreated, large amounts of plant remains were quickly buried and piled up, isolated from air. In an anaerobic environment, they were partially decomposed, forming patches of peat swamps. Then, as seas changed to mulberry fields and land rose and fell, the peat was buried underground. Under special conditions such as high temperature and high pressure, a series of physical and chemical changes occurred, eventually forming coal.

This beautiful rural landscape built on ruins has triggered a classic model of mine restoration: creating poetic and picturesque gardens, a model of mine ecological restoration and tourism development led by leisure space creation. The combination of unique site conditions and design makes such a garden-style mining area rare not only in Henan but also across the country.

Moreover, the most attractive part of Luoyang Yousheng Mining Tourism Area for visitors is undoubtedly the 'Coal Mine Operation Simulation Workface'. To let tourists experience the scene of miners working more than 200 meters underground, the scenic area has relocated the underground work site to the surface at a 1:1 scale.

Stepping into the surface-simulated underground operation room, you will see: next to the thick 'coal wall', all kinds of underground operation equipment such as shearers, scraper conveyors, hydraulic props, and gas monitoring sensors are available, faithfully reproducing the modern coal mine's underground working scene.

If you cannot go to the ancient Jiangnan, you can still encounter Jiangnan scenery here, and you can also bring your children to personally experience the scene of miners working underground. Instead of going to the same old children's playgrounds in the city, this time, why not take your kids to Luoyang Yousheng Mining Tourism Area for a cool and fun winter break?