YINCHUAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Along the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain in northwest China, rows of grapevines now stretch across what was once barren, gravelly land.

The transformation has yielded more than a green belt. By combining grape cultivation with ecological restoration, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has built China's largest concentrated wine-producing area, with digital technology and tourism adding further value to the industry.

Its wine grape plantations and land under development now cover 607,000 mu, or about 40,467 hectares. More than 400,000 mu of barren land has been turned into vineyards along a 195-km corridor at the mountain's foot.

For a group of overseas students visiting the region recently, the scale of the change came into sharp focus as their vehicle entered Qingtongxia, a key wine-producing subregion.

Pozdniakov Igor, a linguistics doctoral student at Shanghai International Studies University, described the vast vineyards as peaceful and restorative. The landscape was all the more striking given that much of the area had once been barren, gravel-covered land.

Nestled between Helan Mountain and the Yellow River, the area enjoys abundant sunshine, sharp day-night temperature swings, and dry conditions ideal for wine grape cultivation. At the same time, water scarcity and desertification have long held back local development.

Rather than treating ecological restoration and industry as separate endeavors, Ningxia has pursued them in tandem.

Chateau Hedong, one of the region's oldest wineries, offers a glimpse into the history of grape cultivation along the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain. It grows dozens of wine grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Marselan, and is home to more than 200 vines confirmed to be over a century old.

Gazing at the century-old vines, Russian student Ocheretianaia Kseniia said they prompted her to imagine people harvesting grapes and making wine there a hundred years ago.

"It feels as though I am connecting with people from another time," she said.

While the old vines preserve a record of the region's early grape cultivation, modern winemaking facilities show how far the industry has come.

At Xige Estate, another winery in the area, drones hover over the vineyards while sensors feed real-time data on individual vine growth into a digital management system. The data enable workers to tailor cultivation practices to different grape varieties and plots.

Automated temperature-control systems are also used to manage fermentation, aging and bottle storage, giving winemakers tighter command over the production process.

Having previously visited vineyards in Crimea, Kseniia said she found clear differences in grape varieties, ripening periods, vineyard management and facility design.

The use of digital technology is part of Ningxia's effort to strengthen quality control across grape cultivation and winemaking. Ningxia wines have won international awards and are now sold in more than 40 countries and regions.

For Vayner Valeriya, another student on the trip, what she saw in Ningxia broadened her understanding of China's modernization.

"I used to think it was mainly about technology, major infrastructure and rapid economic growth," she said. "In Ningxia, I saw another side -- using technology while protecting nature and pursuing development in a more sustainable way."

Ningxia is also looking to extend the industry's value beyond the vineyard and winery.

It has promoted the integration of wine, culture and tourism, with many wineries transformed into tourist destinations and new businesses ranging from accommodation to camping. The region's wine tourism sector now receives more than 3.7 million visits a year, generating combined economic benefits of over 50 billion yuan (about 7.4 billion U.S. dollars).

At Xige Estate, nearly 200,000 pieces of local Helan Mountain stone were used in the winery's construction, giving the estate a character deeply rooted in the surrounding landscape. To Kseniia, the architecture set it apart from wineries she had seen in Russia and Europe.

Kseniia said she planned to take several bottles of Ningxia wine home as special gifts. She also wanted to learn more about the region's traditional culture, desert agriculture and how local people have adapted to life in its dry climate.

Her questions point to the larger story behind the bottles: how vineyards took root on once-barren land and grew into an industry that has brought both ecological and economic value to the region.