Exterior view of the snail apartment [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Dongshan Mountain Bodhi Arts Area in the Yungang Grottoes Scenic Area of Datong, Shanxi province, recently attracted many visitors with its unique and fashionable recycling of waste materials. 

Designed by the Yungang Grottoes Academy, the zone comprises various landscapes made of waste materials, including urban construction waste, used coal mine machinery and tools. 

Interior view of the snail apartment in the Dongshan Mountain Bodhi Arts Area of the Yungang Grottoes Scenic Area of Datong, Shanxi province [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The most popular attraction, which is the snail apartment, made of used cement pipes and steel. A solar power system installed in the apartment not only ensures self-sufficiency in power but also supplies power for other tourist attractions.

"As a coal-rich city, there are lots of unused large machines after some mines were closed in recent years," said Zhang Zhuo, Party chief of the academy. "We have collected thousands of metric tons of machines that are made of steel. We changed them into unique landscapes, hoping to record the city's industrial history."