Early Saturday morning, Xu Chunliang accompanied his grandfather to the Qingshan Mine.
Dongzhou used to be a resource-based city. After the establishment of the country, Dongzhou, known as the "Hundred Mile Coal Sea," produced a cumulative 1 billion tons of coal, making a significant contribution to the economic development of Pinghai Province. The local industrial structure and people's lives all extended and thrived from coal.
However, with the depletion of coal, the once-pillar industries declined, and heavy industrial sectors like chemicals and metallurgy became unbalanced and overproduced. Negative issues continuously emerged, such as air pollution and land subsidence; infrastructure lagged, leaving many industrial and mining areas within the city.
Starting from 1882, Dongzhou dug wells and built mines, with more than 250 at its peak. The coal mining subsidence areas and quarrying pits became ecological scars on Dongzhou.
