On September 11th, a reporter from the Central Radio and Television General Station conducted an on-the-spot investigation in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, and found that a golf course covering an area of nearly 3,000 mu was in operation in a project called "Green Taosha Desert Eco-city" in Yulin Sandy Forest Park, 16 kilometers northwest of Yulin City.
Yulin City, located in the north of Shaanxi Province, is the junction of Mu Us Sandy Land and Loess Plateau, with an annual precipitation of only about 400 mm, a semi-arid continental monsoon climate and a typical desertification and desertification area. Why can a golf course be built in Yulin, which is seriously short of water? The reporter conducted a field visit.
During the visit, the reporter learned that the golf course belongs to the reservation system, and there is a security guard at the entrance of the ecological park. Non-members and reserved customers are forbidden to enter. Under the guidance of the local people, the reporter saw the scene inside through aerial photography. Almost all the lawns in the ecological park are mowed, and the terrain is patchy. Battery cars pull guests to shuttle between different greens, and many people are swinging on the lawn to play ball. After many contacts, the reporter entered the golf course in the "Green Taosha Desert Eco-city". The staff of the golf course introduced that the golf course started construction in 2008 and opened to the public in 2011. The planning of the course is more than 4,000 mu, because the whole course is distributed among many sand dunes, and the fairway fluctuates greatly. Playing here is more challenging than ordinary golf courses, and it is a rare desert golf course in China. The course is reserved and membership, with a minimum membership card of 320,000 yuan and a business card of 46,800 yuan. The staff said that although it is expensive, there are many people who come to play ball every day, ranging from 70 to 80 people to nearly 200 people.
In 2004, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice on suspending the construction of new golf courses. From January 10, 2004, local people’s governments at all levels and various departments in the State Council are not allowed to approve the construction of new golf courses. Why did the golf course in the "Green Taosha Desert Eco-city" in Yulin City start construction in 2008? Are there any relevant approval procedures for the stadium? In response to this problem, on September 12, the reporter visited the Yulin Municipal Development and Reform Commission. The staff of the Social Development Section of the Yulin Municipal Development and Reform Commission said that the Green Taosha Golf Course had not fulfilled the project approval procedures. The reporter learned from the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Yulin City that the Green Taosha Golf Course is an illegal construction project without approval procedures. After comparing the satellite images of the second and third national land surveys by the data center, before the construction of the golf course, the land attribute was "shrub land". According to preliminary statistics, only 18 fairways of Green Taosha Golf Course cover an area of 2,960 mu, and all the above-ground buildings are unapproved.
Bai Ge, the captain of the Fourth Brigade of the Law Enforcement Detachment of Yuyang District Natural Resources Bureau, Yulin City, said that they had repeatedly stopped enforcing the law at the Green Taosha Golf Course, with a cumulative fine of more than 2 million yuan. The reporter learned from the staff of the golf course that the golf course has been punished many times, and will be closed for a few days after each fine, and then continue to operate. As we all know, golf projects need to consume a lot of water resources because of lawn maintenance. Yulin City is located in arid and semi-arid areas, which is a typical fragile ecological environment. Why can a golf course without any approval procedures be built in the national ban and repeatedly punished? How to solve the water consumption of golf courses in areas with serious water shortage? The reporter from the General Station is further visiting and investigating related issues.
(Headquarters reporter Chen Wu, Liu Haitao, Xu Hui)