Ghost Towns and Golden Streets

A tale of two cities: one a ghost town in modern China; the other, a future city that has inspired people for millennia.

It’s like the opening scene of a dystopian film. The streets of the city are empty. The buildings are vacant. There are no conversations, because there are no voices to have them. On rare occasions, a lone pedestrian walks through the eerie and practically uninhabited city blocks while elaborate libraries, museums and town squares gather dust.

The Kangbashi story

But it’s no movie. It is the district of Kangbashi, in Ordos, China. When construction began five years ago, it was intended to house about a million people by 2010. Instead, roughly 23,000 people were spread across a district that could have supported 300,000. To picture how eerie this really is, try to imagine 90 percent of your neighbors vanishing, while their houses remain in like-new condition. That’s Kangbashi.

It’s not necessarily that people don’t want to move there. Many residents of Ordos hope to, one day—if they can ever afford it. Because many of the apartments have been bought up by investors asking prices that the less wealthy can’t afford to pay, the city—originally intended for the very same people who now can’t afford to move there—remains a magnificent, impeccably designed ghost town.

But who knows! Let’s be generous and assume that, within a few years, the city experiences a massive influx of residents and meets its intended capacity of 1 million. That influx will inevitably bring with it the less desirable aspects of civilization: crime, vandalism, pollution and so on. The pristine city that some $161 billion built will one day be tarnished by time’s onward march, subjected to the wear and tear of natural and man-made decay.

A city like no other

Kangbashi isn’t the only city designed to serve people who haven’t moved in yet. Long ago, planning began on a city much more elaborate than this relatively recent addition to Ordos. To date, however, it has yet to house its intended residents—because no one on earth has ever set foot in it.

We find a description of this incredible city in the book of Revelation, where the apostle John is given a vision of the end of this age. He writes, “I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ... The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. ... The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:2, 18-19, 21).

Like Kangbashi, this New Jerusalem is not yet inhabited by the people it was built for—but unlike Ordos’ ghost town, its people are guaranteed to find a place there. And unlike every town and every civilization man has ever built in his short existence, this city will have peace.

John writes again, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

The New Jerusalem—capital of the Kingdom of God—will one day be established on earth. That day will see the end of the countless evils that have plagued humanity since its inception, and the beginning of an eternity where the entire world will understand and live in peace with its Creator.

That day is coming, and you can be a part of it. To learn more about how, read our free online e-book, The Mystery of the Kingdom. 

Jeremy Lallier is a baptized member of the Church of God and enjoys discovering how and why things work, especially when it comes to God's way of life.