20 | December 29-30, 2018 DAILY LIFE Karsts, kiwifruit and big data Guizhou has transformed its notoriously juddering terrain from a bane into a boon. Turns out, tricky geology can advance technology, Erik Nilsson discovers.

recently used an app to water a mountainside kiwi field in Guiz- Ihou’s Shuicheng. A few taps on a phone and the taps of the sprin- kler systems started spurting. It was one of several experiences that showed me how topographically treacherous Guizhou — one of Chi- na’s poorest provinces for time brings in several times more mon- immemorial — is turning its geologi- ey.” cal disadvantages into technological Shuicheng’s kiwis are not only eat- advantages. en raw but also processed into alco- Turns out, big data has climate hols and soft drinks with growing preferences — cool and stable — and national brand recognition. is averse to seismic twitchiness. Many residents lease their land to And Guizhou’s karsts, which have growers and earn about 100 yuan long stood as obstacles to its develop- additionally a day as migrant work- ment, sire ideal conditions for data ers, he explains. storage. Others are capitalizing on the Much of this is concentrated growing tourism industry, as more around the capital, Guiyang — aka, outsiders arrive to pick fruit and the “city of eternal spring”. The city enjoy the striking scenery. has an average temperature of 22 C The number of visitors to the agri- and rarely registers anything beyond cultural park and surrounding area magnitude-3 tremors. has grown from roughly 20,000 six So, China selected Guizhou as the years ago to about 80,000 today. Vil- site of the country’s first comprehen- las built in the scenic spot cost about sive big data experimental zone. 2,000 yuan a night. Big data has contributed over 20 Guizhou was the last stop of my percent of Guizhou’s annual growth 35-day, 2,000-kilometer journey to 11 from 2014 to the end of 2017. A bird’s-eye view of Shuicheng, Guizhou province. PHOTOS BY CHINA DAILY NEW MEDIA CENTER destinations along the Yangtze to dis- I visited a park with 29 buildings cover how cities on the river have that house 60,000 cabinets and embraced the achievements and con- 800,000 servers. It hosts data centers sion of big data’s development in the kiwifruit slice installed for photo ops. times more than Sichuan’s on aver- fronted the challenges brought by the for such telecom giants as China Tele- province and throughout the coun- At the bottom of the alp’s water rib- age, locals told me. reform and opening-up. com, China Mobile and China Uni- try. bon, teeny people got out of tiny cars to Turns out, like big data, they thrive China is addressing such problems com. Huawei’s data center is under The app I used at the 400-hectare snap shots with the huge fruit wedge. in climatically stable karsts. as uncoordinated regional develop- construction. agricultural-technology-demonstra- The fruit from which the kiwi was Guizhou has long been known for ment, widening wealth gaps and The porous, melted-limestone tion park built in Shuicheng six years created in New Zealand originally poor soil that often produces little environmental degradation by shift- landscapes are pocked with a honey- ago operates according to a big data came from China’s Sichuan province more than low-grade corn on terrac- ing toward new models that focus on comb of caves particularly ideal for system adopted last year. over a century ago. es chopped into the mountains over quality development rather than data hardware. Sensors monitor such conditions The wild varieties, then called Chi- centuries. growth for growth’s sake. One of the centers is contained in a as sunlight, moisture, nutrition, tem- nese gooseberries, were grape-sized “Local farmers could only earn The country is improving people’s man-made tunnel connecting two perature and pests, and relay the Editor's Note: This is Part 3 and bitter. about 1,000 yuan ($144) per mu lives while protecting the ecosystems mountains. Its natural ventilation information to the app. of the six-part Yangtze dia- They were selectively bred in New (1/15th of a hectare) growing corn,” we depend on. saves energy, my guide told me. The app can perform such actions ries series based on journal- Zealand to create the large, sweet Zhang told me atop the mountain The reform and opening-up is still The park includes a district in as watering and fertilizing fields ist Erik Nilsson’s recent 35- varieties we eat today. that the orchard spills down. unfolding, especially as China enters which the province has concentrated according to the data. This reduces day, 2,000-kilometer About a decade ago, I reported on “They earn an average of 30,000 a new era. its major universities to cultivate tal- human labor — and error. journey to 11 cities to discov- how the not-so-prodigal kiwi had yuan per mu a year growing kiwif- It’s not only a model for develop- ent for the industry. “It requires electricity”, agronomist er how the Yangtze River returned home to southwestern Chi- ruit. They can earn 90,000 yuan per ment along the waterway — or even It’s also producing the semicon- Zhang Rongquan told me, “which Economic Belt has trans- na’s soil. mu at most.” throughout China — but, ultimately, formed over the ductors used to store and process big comes from that”, he said, pointing to 40 years since It’s today cultivating new prosperi- I pointed out a small cornfield an inspiration for the world we all data — “like the neurons in a giant a waterfall blasting down a moun- the reform and ty in places like Shuicheng. below, at the orchard’s edge. share. brain”, as one producer put it. tainside. opening-up. The variety that thrives in Guizhou “That’ll be gone next year,” Zhang Thus, Guizhou’s otherwise-hazard- The cascade gushed into a fizzing Scan the code to — relatively bald and with a tangy- told me. Contact the writer at ous topography has led to an explo- in front of a two-story statue of a watch the video. honey aftertaste — sells for four to 10 “Locals have realized kiwifruit [email protected] Gulping firewater along the ‘liquor river’

By ERIK NILSSON I watched children scuttle in and Hundreds of ceramic bottles are The workers coaching me giggled out of a massive sculpture of a brew- exhibited in a two-story glass wall in as I alternatingly folded the wrong I recently learned how to sensory ing urn near the Chishui’s banks. An the lobby that displays different cardboard flaps or got them right evaluate China’s top-end tipple and elderly man rode a robotic panda with varieties produced over the years. but forgot to put the shot glasses in joined an assembly line to package wheels that blasted music nearby. Some are designed in shapes like the box first. booze bottles while exploring the The shore is lined with tradition- lighthouses. Others are printed with I got it right on the fourth try. country’s “liquor river” in Guizhou al-style wooden buildings plated brocade patterns from Chinese eth- After successfully packaging one province. with black-tile roofs ending in eves nic groups. bottle, I officially retired from my The Chishui River, which takes its that curl upward like talons. A specialist taught me how to sen- factory gig. name from its reddish color, in Ren- Moutai liquor is an 800-year-old sory evaluate the liquor. Turns out, It takes workers an average of two huai city’s Maotai town has long type of baijiu (“white” spirits) that’s the process is much the same as minutes. (I took much longer.) remained underdeveloped — seren- celebrated as China’s national tipple. sampling wine. They operate with a machine-like The assembly line at a Moutai liquor plant in Renhuai, Guizhou, dipitously, it turns out. The dearth of US president Richard Nixon and First, you sniff the aroma. speed and precision. The plant packages up to 150 tons of Moutai a day. CHINA DAILY NEW MEDIA CENTER other industries has safeguarded Chinese premier Zhou Enlai raised a Then, you assess the color. The hopes to automate and is currently the water’s purity. glass when the US leader made his longer the booze brews, the darker trialing a giant robotic arm used to Indeed, the Yangtze tributary’s historic visit to China in 1972. Mout- yellow it is. lift crates onto carts. Improved transportation and told me at a water-treatment plant. superb quality is hailed as the magi- ai is still served to foreign heads of You next swirl the glass to exam- But the company has already development have accelerated Mao- It has built 22 treatment facilities cal ingredient that conjures China’s state during banquets. ine the tears dribbling down the adopted other new technologies, such tai’s liquor industry. in 20 towns and villages, including most-famous firewater. The brand is internationalizing as side. as big data. For instance, it places sen- Travel from the town to Zunyi city nine specifically dedicated to purify- The air throughout the town is its exports increase. It’s now even And, finally, you taste it to detect sors in bottle caps that can be scanned now takes an hour compared with ing water used for liquor, he says. soaked with the smell of alcohol. It’s being used to concoct cocktails. such notes as fruit, honey and flow- with phones to prevent forgeries. eight a decade ago. And increased About 200 distilleries operate in almost like you can feel it on your I sampled some in the bar lounge ers. We later visited a Moutai distillery disposable incomes following the the area. skin. of the local Moutai museum, where I later joined the assembly line at that uses ancient methods to fer- reform and opening-up have “Protecting the Chishui equals A growing number of tourists are displays show recipes for versions of a plant that packages up to 150 tons ment the liquor. About 300 glazed enhanced demand for luxury liquor. protecting Renhuai’s economic visiting the mountainous settle- Manhattans, martinis and mojitos of Moutai a day. clay urns are housed in a window- Renhuai issued the first regula- development,” he says. ment to sample its spirits, enjoy its made with Moutai. Some of these It’s harder than it looks, I found. less room built in the 1970s. tions to protect the Chishui in 2011, Certainly, I found my visit to the pristine environment and view its inventions have won awards in I messed up the first time. And the My colleagues’ eyes watered at the the city’s environmental protection “liquor river” intoxicating — in splendid scenery. international competitions. second. And the third. strong smell inside. bureau office director, Ding Junjie, every sense.

of the World Yacht Race, the first King can be the World Ball King,” time a Chinese boat has won this Chen says. Work on to make Sanya a city focused on sports competition. And one month later, In another development, Sanya Sanya earned the bid to host the and the Guoao group signed an By LI YINGXUE international billiards competition. ments, Pan says: “When we are in lady,” says Li. sixth Asian Beach Games in 2020. agreement on June 1 under which the [email protected] For the opening ceremony, the competition, we are always nervous, Since April, Sanya has taken Pres- Li says the events had not only two sides will cooperate in the fields organizers decided to hold the event but in Sanya the comfortable envi- ident Xi Jinping’s speech on the caused a rise in public fitness in San- of sports, culture, tourism, and rural The Chinese women’s 9-ball world at Sanya Romance Park, which is ronment and the scenery has helped 30th anniversary of the Hainan spe- ya, but also greatly boosted the revitalization. And the 2018 Hainan champion Pan Xiaoting walks onto covered in primeval forest and has me relax.” cial economic zone to heart, by tak- development of the tourism sector, Sanya Women’s World 9-ball Cham- the red carpet, together with 63 other different theme areas. Sanya, which is located on the ing concrete actions to build the creating a deep convergence pionship is the first sports project female billiards players, each wear- “We want to open the tunnel “edge of heaven and in a corner of the Hainan pilot free trade zone, a free between sports events and Sanya’s being held under the agreement. ing a lei — it’s like a runway show. between sports and tourism in San- sea” in Hainan province is one of trade port with Chinese characteris- tourism. Also, Sanya and the Guoao group Along the carpet, there are totem ya, and this ceremony is our first most popular tourism cities in China. tics. Separately, the Sanya Ball King plan to build more sports facilities poles, palms, coconut trees, and effort,” says Chen Zhenmin, the But now, it’s not only a beautiful “Sports tourism is one of the new series competition has been held for in the parks and on the beach, says tourists — they are in Sanya director of the Department of and romantic tourism city, but also a ways for Sanya to actively explore three consecutive years. And this Chen. Romance Park, a popular scenic Sports, Culture, Radio, Television sports venue. tourism, which earlier used to rely year’s competition involves nine As Sanya is a coastal city, beach spot which is a cultural microcosm and Publication of Sanya. According to Li Wujun, vice secre- only on its unique natural and tour- sports including soccer, basketball, sports and water sports will be the of Hainan province. At the venue, players were tary-general of the Sanya municipal ism resources,” says Li. volleyball, table tennis, badminton main sports there, says Chen, add- It’s the opening ceremony of the exposed to China’s intangible cul- government, Sanya’s current gross In recent years, a number of and tennis. ing that a sailing school from Qing- 2018 Hainan Sanya Women’s World tural heritage such as weaving Li domestic product has jumped 353- international sports events have According to Chen, this year’s dao, in province, and a 9-Ball Championship, from Dec 3 to brocade and blowing sugar-figures. fold over 30 years, achieving historic chosen Sanya, including the Cen- competition attracted amateur ath- diving school from Zhanjiang, in 9, with a total prize of $175,000. The Romantic Show of Sanya, leaps forward in the economic and tral Hainan International Road letes aged from 7 to 82. Guangdong province, will also set The event, hosted by China’s Bil- which is staged at the park each day, social fields. Cycling Race, the Youth Sailing “It (the series) has become a call- up branches in Sanya. liards & Association and lets visitors enjoy multiple art “Since the setting up of the city, World Championships, and the ing card for Sanya, and it’s not only “Each city has unique character- Department of Sports, Culture, forms’ show and learn about the his- Sanya has gone from being a small Volvo Ocean Race. for Sanya’s residents. We are invit- istics, and our goal is to make San- Radio, Television and Publication of tory of Sanya. fishing village girl to becoming an In July, the Sanya Serenity Coast ing ball game lovers from around ya a sports hub in the winter,” says Sanya, is the city’s first top level Speaking about the arrange- internationally well-known modern clinched the overall Clipper Round the world to join us as the Sanya Ball Chen.