Ordos, also known as Ih Ju, is one of the twelve major subdivisions of Inner Mongolia, China. It lies within the Ordos Plateau of the Yellow River. Although mainly rural, Ordos is administered as a prefecture-level city.
Its population was 2,153,638 as of the 2020 census, and its built-up (or metro) area made up of Ejin Horo Banner and Kangbashi District was home to 366,779 inhabitants, as Dongsheng District (574,442 inhabitants) is not a conurbation yet.Ordos is known for its recently undertaken large scale government projects including most prominently the new Kangbashi District, an urban district planned as a massive civic mall with abundant monuments, cultural institutions and other showpiece architecture.
It was the venue for the 2012 Miss World Final.When it was newly built, the streets of the new Kangbashi district did not have much activity, and the district was frequently described as a "ghost city" by several Western media outlets. However, by 2017, Kangbashi had become more populated with a resident population of 153,000 and around one-third of apartments occupied.
In a Forbes article, Wade Shepard noted that "...of the 40,000 apartments that had been built in the new district since 2004, only 500 are still on the market.
Most hotels are located in the Dongsheng District. Despite the drastic buildup, Ordos (Kangbashi) has only about 4 business class hotels. Altan Xire town has several large business class hotels, which can be 30% cheaper than the options in Ordos (Kangbashi) or Dongsheng.
Bus line K22 runs between the center of Ordos (Kangbashi) to the center of Dongsheng. In Ordos first K22 bus from 06:30 to last departure at 18:50. Bus service between cities ends early so civil servants aren't too comfortable commuting from Dongsheng, dealing a gentle reminder by city planners for them to move to Ordos (Kangbashi).
Taxis are numerous in Dongsheng, Ordos (Kangbashi), and Altan Xire town. Flag drop is ¥7 but fares accumulate fast for long distance rides. It costs over ¥80 to go from Ordos (Kangbashi) to Dongsheng.
Ordos is described by western media as the poster child of excess modern Chinese city planning. Monumental architectures line the center axis flanked by identical apartment blocks built by the dozens. Ordos is referred to internationally as a "Ghost City" as the new city was almost without any human activity when first built in 2010. Several years later there is a population of 100,000 and life on the streets during the day but still quiet at night, in contrast to Dongsheng, a still bustling 4th tier Chinese city.
Ordos (Kangbashi) is bounded by the Wulan Mulun River to its south. On the opposite bank of this river is the town of Altan Xire (阿勒腾席热镇), the county seat of Ejin Horo Banner and the central business district extension of Kangbashi. While the architecture in Altan Xire is not as sleek as the futuristic civic buildings in Kangbashi, the highly urbanized town hosts an impressive complex of skyscrapers along the river and several other tall commercial and residential high rises throughout the town. These tall buildings all emanate a flashing electric light show at night, as do the buildings in Kangbashi.
Since the name "Ordos" can refer to both the new city and the prefecture whose centre is actually the old city, Dongsheng, things can get really confusing. The new city of Ordos is also referred to as Kangbashi New Area 康巴什新区. Mentioning Kangbashi can remove a lot of the ambiguity when communicating with locals.
