Entrance leading to the main building of Yuanshi Chateau at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Photo by Yao Yulin

Old stone buildings with tiled roofs, ancient sculptures, ceilings made of dumped cork, and a stone table made of a century-old cart wheel, the Yuanshi Chinese chateau at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in northwest China is unlike anything you will find in Europe.

"We built the chateau out of stones from the Gobi," says Yuan Yuan (袁园), 26, the owner of the Yuanshi Chateau, which stands in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Yuan returned to her hometown after graduation, eager to pass down the winemaking skills and secrets of her father's generation.

Yuan Yuan, owner of Yuanshi Chateau. Photo by Yao Yulin

Starting from scratch and facing competitive global wine brands, Yuan's winery is like a green shoot struggling for living in a crevice among stones. The green vineyards interlaced with mounds of stones distinguish it from typical grape cultivation bases. For Yuan and her father, the stones are the vestige of the Gobi mining age in Ningxia.

"There was nothing but stones. In the 1980s, my father opened a quarry, manufactured building materials and sent them to the capital city of Yinchuan," Yuan says.

Stones laid bare on the ground tell the vestige of the Gobi mining age in Ningxia. Photo by Yao Yulin

Rampant mining at the time left deep pits in the open air.

"The mining industry damaged the local ecosystem. Whenever the sandstorm came, cars easily got a sideslip," her father Yuan Hui says. Around 1998, he started to plant trees in order to restore the local environment that had been so scarred by the industry. Since then, over 2 million plants have gradually covered the landscape of about 113 million square meters.

Yuanshi Chateau looks like a stone castle from afar. Photo by Yao Yulin

A dining table made of a century-old cart wheel. Photo by Yao Yulin

Yuanshi Chateau's underground cellar. Photo by Yao Yulin

However, the Yuans will never forget how the land was back then. It is why they called their chateau Yuanshi, meaning "born of stones."

Yuan Hui loves all kinds of stone. "All the waste was misplaced resources, so were the stones in the Gobi," he says. Starting in 2008, he spent almost six years designing and building the stony chateau himself, decorating the walls of wine cellars with this "wasted" stone.

ROOTED IN LOCAL CULTURE

"Wine is both global and local," Yuan Yuan says, as she talks excitedly about the introduction of grapes to China in the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD).

At first her winery invited foreign winemakers to grow the grapes, but due to difference in climate, western techniques did not work.

Organic grapes grown in the vineyard of Helan County. Photo by Yao Yulin

Yuanshi Chateau's vineyard located in Xixia District now acts as a research base for postgraduates of China Agriculture University. Photo by Yao Yulin

A hard-wroking farmer in the vineyard. Photo by Yao Yulin

"In 2015, experts from China Agriculture University worked with us and offered scientific guidance on growing grapes. They did experiments in our fields and our vineyards, which now act as a research base for their postgraduates," she says.

Li Wenchao, an official with the region's grape industry bureau, says that Chinese wine should cater to Chinese drinkers. "In Western dining culture, different courses are paired with different wine. But in China, people tend to choose wine according to their personal dietary habits."

Long table for hosting wine tastings. Photo by Yao Yulin

Students of Ningxia University do internships in the winery during their summer vacation. Photo by Yao Yulin

Three major types of wine. Photo by Yao Yulin

Manager Liu Chaozhen shows her wine tasting skills. Photo by Yao Yulin

Zhao Shihua, a researcher with the bureau, says that the Chinese want "sweet and thick wine." Every year, chateaus in Ningxia meet with their dealers to discuss customers feedback, and then adjust the taste of their wine accordingly. "There are eight major culinary traditions in China and we make different types of wine accordingly," Zhao says.

One particular type of new wine from the chateau features fragrance of tropical fruits such as lychees and pineapples.

Yuanshi Chateau's Chinese restaurant. Photo by Yao Yulin

"We also plan to offer Chinese food with our wine in the chateau so that more and more people can learn about our wine culture," Yuan Yuan says.