TREES that cost millions of yuan to plant to stop soil erosion and water run-off in a north China village have been uprooted for a golf course.

The sea buckthorn trees sheltered gales and stabilized the soil in Jiuchenggong Village in Erdos City of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinhua news agency reported today.

The 36-hole golf course, indoor coaching center and other support facilities are expected to use 5 million tons of water each year, mostly underground water, for its planned 467 hectares.

Villagers fear it will drain groundwater and lead to further soil loss.

China’s water authority launched an ecological improvement project in 1998 to plant 200 hectares of sea buckthorn to improve the soil and water supplies.

Villagers told Xinhua that the tree planting had worked, as water was now reappearing in formerly dried-up streams.

Development was banned by the local government in the village because of its ecological fragility.

But Erdos Yitong Yitong Coal Co Ltd launched the golf project in the ecological protection zone in 2005, calling it a “new agricultural project” because China bans golf course construction, the report said.

Yitong Coal has developed half of the golf project and expects to lay lawns next month ready for opening in August, according to a manager surnamed Qiao.

The zone’s water authority doesn’t have the power to stop the golf project, according to Chen Yonggui, office dean of Dongsheng District Water Protection Bureau.

Go here for more details about the story in Chinese.

The scope of the multi-billion-dollar project is staggering. It occupies 80sq km of forest and shrubland – an area the size of Hong Kong island – in north-east Hainan, the island province long touted as China’s answer to Hawaii. Once completed, it will feature 22 golf courses, at a stroke doubling the number on Hainan today. It’s been in the works since 2006 and for more than two years, thousands of workers have been clearing trees, moving soil, building greens, fairways, clubhouses and luxury hotels.

Shanghai-based writer Dan Washburn writes for the Financial Times Weekend Magazine about golf’s secret boom in Hainan island, go here to read the fascinating story (h/t  Shanghaiist). Dan, the man behind Par for China blog, is currently researching a book about the development of golf in China.

Today’s South China Morning Post looks at China’s decision to boost tourism in Hainan, with sports facilities of course:

To attract more tourists, tropical tourism facilities such as water sports and scuba diving will be built. A cruise harbour has been proposed to allow cruises from around the world to dock. Foreign cruise companies would be allowed to set up offices on the island. And as ambitious as it can get, the government said it also planned to promote “red” tourism – promoting communist history – and ethnic tourism.International events such as yachting, golfing and cycling are also mentioned in the document.

The government said it would explore sports lotteries, including those that apply to international games – immediately sparking speculation in the mainland media that Hainan could be China’s testing ground for a gaming industry.

The Hainan island is not the first in China to open ‘lottery’ business, and sure will not be the last.

Previously:

• Horse Lottery, Gambling and Chinese Football

Links and Sources:

• FT Weekend Magazine: Golf’s secret boom in Hainan, China
• SCMP: Hainan set on a course to tourism paradise (subscription req’ed)