A new airport has been put into use in Wuhai City, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, north China, making this remote place more accessible to outsiders.

The airport, which cost 145 million yuan (about US$17.46 million) to build, is part of the government's efforts to speedup the development in the poverty-stricken areas in the western part of the country.

Hainan Airlines operates flights between Wuhai and Beijing on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. All the flights will go via this regional capital.

Wuhai is a small city in a coal-mining area.
 
(People's Daily December 15, 2003)