The Kangbashi district of Ordos, which means 'palaces' in the Mongolian language, is an area filled with thousands of residential apartments and duplex-style homes, built to house mainly workers for the nearby coal mines located just outside the town.

It also includes many large office towers, administrative centers, government buildings, museums, theaters, schools playing fields and exhibition centres. However, the estimated one million people that were expected to move into or visit the district's now decaying buildings, have yet to appear.