Geothermal heating revitalizes small village in Shandong Province, China
Baotu Spring Park, Jinan, Shandong Province, China (source: Suginami, CC BY-SA 4.0 
Carlo Cariaga
27 Jan 2026
By improving quality of life, comfort, and food security, geothermal heating has revitalized the village of Dazhaozhuang in Shandong Province, China.
In the past two to three years, more and more of the locals in the village of Dazhaozhuang in Wucheng County in Shandong Province, China, have decided to return and stay, despite the harsh winters. Much of the credit for the revitalization of the village goes to the 1500-meter geothermal well that now supplies the heating systems of the villagers’ homes.
The home of 83-year-old Zhao Jinzhong maintains a cozy temperature of 23 °C thanks to geothermal heating. This is despite outdoor temperatures reaching -10 °C on the coldest day of the year. Like many people in the village, Zhao Jinzhong used to travel outside of the village during winter with his son. However, he has been willing to stay in the village since moving into the newly built Xiangrui Jiayuan community in 2023.
“In winter, I don’t need to wear a cotton-padded coat or cover myself with a thick quilt, and I can take a hot bath every other day; I can go up and down the elevator, and I can stroll and chat in the square with familiar faces; I can grow vegetables in the ecological park behind the village, and I don’t have to worry about food and drink; when my grandchildren come to visit during the Spring Festival, I don’t have to worry about them freezing,” said Zhao Jinzhong.
Zhao Jinli, the village property manager, explains that the geothermal well in the east of the village discharges water at nearly 60 °C. The water is then filtered and purified before it enters the heat exchanger, which produces water at 40 °C. This is then supplied to the village’s heating system and fed to the homes of the villagers.
With the comfort, quality of life, and food security afforded by geothermal heating, more villagers have come back to their hometown to live. They are now also more likely to have their children over for short stays during holidays. During weekends, the village is described to be even more lively than many other communities in the county.
The village of Dazhaozhuang is only a small part of the extensive scope of geothermal heating in China. Through strong policy support for project and technology development, China has managed to hold the leading position in geothermal heating capacity worldwide by a sizable margin. There have also been early efforts to harness geothermal resources for power generation, albeit the scale that the country has managed so far remains small.
Source: Sohu.com
