People in Zhongwei, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, use wheat straw to pave checkerboard sand barriers that stabilize the encroaching desert. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The electricity price is at 0.36 yuan per kilowatt-hour, which is quite low in China.

"The weather here can help the cloud base utilize technology that enables the wind to cool the servers, which makes the power usage effectiveness 1.1-much lower than the national average of around 1.8," he says.

In the first three quarters in 2020,100,000 more servers have been added to the cloud base in Zhongwei and there are almost half a million servers in total.

"In the first three quarters, the total output value of information transmission and information technology service industries has occupied one third of the gross domestic product in Zhongwei," Li says.

Local companies have also been eliminating industries that involve high energy consumption and high pollution and embracing cloud technology.

The Meili Cloud Computing Industry Investment Co has transferred its focus from a papermaking company which was once the only listed company in Zhongwei. It's now building a data center and photovoltaic power station.

For local people, cloud technology has changed from a strange concept to something that they all relate to-the city has developed many cloud services including government administration, sanitation, education and tourism, bringing more convenience to their daily lives.

According to Zhu Wenjun, deputy general manager of Zhongwei Shapotou scenic spot, cloud technology has been used to better serve tourists.

"For example, before utilizing the new technology, a ticket could only be used once. Now, with facial recognition technology and data storage, tourists can enter our scenic area the following day," Zhu says.

He adds that the data can also analyze the tourists' background information, which helps them to design future tourism products and advertisement targeting.