(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121130-ordos-china-jsw-6a.photoblog600.jpg)David Gray / ReutersTwo men walk down a deserted street in front of the unopened Ordos Museum on May 11, 2011. In the wake of a coal boom, Ordos was built to house up to 1 million people but only 30,000 live there today.By Johanna Armstrong, NBC NewsBEIJING -- With miles of freshly paved roads, little traffic and some seriously avant-garde architecture, the Chinese city of Ordos provides a driving environment most car enthusiasts can only dream of.
Yet rich Chinese who have invested in the resource-rich city are now frantically rushing to sell off their new luxury toys to stem the excessive bleeding that has come with a steep decline in coal prices.
As the boom turns to bust, some luxury car owners are said to be asking for as little as 10 percent of the typical asking price.
Ordos, which sprung up from the deserts of Inner Mongolia, sits on a massive coal reserve. It supplies about 17 percent of China’s needs.
NBCNews