Mainland golf courses demolished amid Beijing crackdown

All that remains of an 18-hole golf course on 60 hectares of land in Chaoyang, on Beijing's outskirts, is rubble and mounds of mud after the authorities ordered workers to dig up the course in March and tear down the clubhouse.

Two other courses have also been demolished on the orders of the National Development and Reform Commission, while another has been turned into an eco-friendly park and a fifth converted into a tea plantation, suggesting the central government could finally be cracking down on developers which have long ignored a 2004 ban on building golf courses.

The government, which announced the demolitions last month, said its actions served as a warning and an attempt to educate "would-be" violators.

Just over a week ago, the National Audit Office joined in, publicly shaming two big state-run enterprises for building golf courses.

"It's a stepped-up campaign for sure," said one developer, whose company constructed a course after the ban and who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Nevertheless, developers say golf courses remain in demand by the local authorities who want the revenue from selling land while attracting well-heeled visitors to their regions.

The ban was imposed to protect the mainland's shrinking land and water resources - it is home to 20 per cent of the world's population but has just 7 per cent of its water. The only place exempted was the southern resort island of Hainan.