BEIJING -- Christopher Cox Nixon began retracing the steps of his grandfather's historic 1972 visit to China by walking across Tiananmen Square with an entourage that included several former Nixon aides.

"The stark contrast between then and now," marveled Jack Brennan, who had accompanied President Richard Nixon to China as his Marine Corp aide. "The colors, and nobody smiled back then."

As if on cue, a young Chinese woman in a bright dress, big white-rimmed sunglasses and a smile that seemed as broad as the Tiananmen Gate, bounded forward requesting a photograph. Although not with Brennan, but with the young Nixon's glamorous wife, Andrea Catsimatidis, clad in a striking red dress.

Catsimatidis, daughter of supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis -- a candidate for mayor of New York -- duly obliged, as she would several more times as the group strolled on through the Forbidden City.

It is likely that none of the Chinese fans had a clue who she was -- and they may never have heard of either of the Nixons. But it seemed a cool thing to do, uploading the photo from a smartphone to one of the many social networking sites patronized by young Chinese.

Yes, this country has changed.

Andy Wong / AP

In this combo photo, U.S. President Richard Nixon and his wife Pat Nixon have light moments at a huge stone elephant, left, on Feb. 24, 1972; while at right, Nixon's grandson Christopher Cox and his wife Andrea Catsimatidisat visit the same spot at the Ming Tomb, north of Beijing, on  May 4, 2013.

President Nixon called his historic 1972 visit "the week that changed the world," ending 25 years of a diplomatic freeze between the two countries. The young Nixon’s visit marked the centenary of his grandfather's birth.

"What an incredible change from 40 years ago," said the young Nixon, a 34-year-old investment banker with political ambitions of his own. "Just look at the personal freedoms, not political freedoms, but personal freedoms -- how people dress, how people interact with each other."

The 1972 trip is credited with opening China to the world. It was also an important Cold War play, driving a deeper wedge between China and the Soviet Union. Nixon was fiercely anti-communist, and the term "Nixon going to China" became a catchphrase for an unexpected action by a politician.

"We should never keep a billion of the world's most able and hard-working people in isolation," said his grandson. "I think that he [President Nixon] would have expected to see the Chinese people so prosperous and industrious."

The anniversary trip was designed to stress the positives of both the Nixon administration and the Chinese Communist Party, which gave the group red-carpet treatment as they traveled last week to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

One highlight was a banquet at the Great Hall of the People, hosted by State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China's top foreign policy official, and designed to mirror a banquet thrown for President Nixon.

A big screen at the front of the room described the 1972 summit as the "most important event in the history of international diplomacy in the 20^th century."

Andy Wong / AP

Christopher Cox, grandson of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, second from right, and his wife Andrea Catsimatidis, third from right, pose with Chinese tourists as they tour the Great Wall of China at Badaling, north of Beijing, on May 4. A delegation led by Cox is here to commemorate Nixon's centennial by retracing his 1972 historical visit to China.

Among the Chinese dignitaries was Tang Wensheng, who had been interpreter for Chairman Mao Zedong back then. Mao had suffered a stroke a few days before Nixon arrived, and she said the Chinese side was worried about whether Mao would be well enough. But the ailing Mao was able to meet Nixon.

Robert McFarlane, former national security adviser to President Nixon, said the summit set the scene for extensive sharing of privileged information.

"We shared the most sensitive intelligence about the Soviet Union with China, intelligence we didn't even share with our allies," he said.

He said this was designed as a mark of sincerity, but it also served Washington's purpose of further poisoning relations between the two communist giants.

Back then, of course, relations between China and the U.S. were fairly simple -- there weren't any.

Today China is a much more open, yet complicated, place. Relations can be tense and difficult. The two are economic and political rivals, and U.S. officials are much more regular visitors as they grapple with a host of issues from cyberspying to North Korea. 

"The problems haven't become any easier," McFarlane said. "Issues like cybersecurity, regional territorial disagreements between China and her neighbors and certainly terrorism -- all of these look daunting."

As the toasts got underway, there was much talk at the banquet of reviving the spirit of 1972.

"It’s important for the two countries to talk to each other frankly," McFarlane said.

Related links: 

Chairman Mao's granddaugher makes China's rich list 

China labels US the 'real hacking empire' after Pentagon report 

'Charlie Two Shoes': A story of wartime loyalty and friendship

BEIJING – Dr. Jiang Rongmeng had no sooner walked out of the hospital door when he was mobbed by journalists. Camera crews jostled for position and microphones jousted in front of his face as he was bombarded with demands for information about the latest case of bird flu.

In Hong Kong or Taiwan this wouldn't be an unusual sight, but in Beijing it's rarer to see such raw displays of journalistic pushiness.

Rongmeng is Dr. Bird Flu -- he is the chief physician at the Center for Infectious Diseases at Beijing's Ditan Hospital. Since the weekend, when the capital announced its first case of the deadly new H7N9 virus -- the victim is a 7-year-old girl -- he's been a man in demand.

On Monday a 4-year-old boy was found to be carrying the virus -- though without symptoms, a discovery that has further puzzled experts. In both cases the parents were live poultry traders.

The girl was well enough Tuesday to leave intensive care; the boy remains in quarantine.

When asked if he expected more cases, Ronmeng said: "It is possible. It's certainly possible."

As the figures have ballooned -- 63 cases now with 14 deaths since March -- and spread from the eastern provinces, the authorities seem to have concluded after initial hesitation that openness is the best strategy.

It appears they have learned from the deadly SARS pandemic that struck 10 years ago. It started in China before spreading worldwide, killing hundreds, and was made worse by a government cover-up.

The World Health Organization has even praised the authorities for their new openness.

To some extent, though, they are bowing to the inevitable: H7N9 is the first such outbreak in the era of social media. Information is tougher to control, and when it's restricted, rumor can run rife.

One local newspaper reported that 13 people have been arrested for spreading rumors about the disease on social media.

But not everybody is convinced. At the Ditan Hospital, Yang Shengli scoffed at the suggestion of government openness.

"It's hard to say if the government really is telling the truth," she said, as she brought in her feverish 16-year-old daughter for tests. Thankfully it wasn't bird flu.

In Beijing the response to the first case, the 7-year-old girl, seems to have been quick and efficient. Her parents had reportedly bought their chickens in the east, in Tianjin, and some of those chickens were sold to the neighbor of the 4-year-old boy hospitalized Tuesday.

Health authorities quickly followed the chicken trail, and when NBC arrived in the boy's village on the outskirts of Beijing Monday, loudspeakers were calling on anybody to come forward if they had bought chickens from the neighbor or the boy's parents.

Officials in white coats and masks were disinfecting the streets and roadblocks had been set up in and out of the village. Cars were searched, and even frozen poultry was confiscated.

So far there is no evidence that the H7N9 virus spreads from human to human, although there is one ambiguous case of a husband and wife in Shanghai that is causing concern.

One big challenge for the authorities is that chickens carrying the virus do not appear to show any signs of sickness. And the symptomless 4-year-old is also creating more uncertainty.

But there are no signs of panic -- only worry, with sales of chicken pretty much drying up and neighboring countries on alert.

"We absolutely should not be panicking," said Dr. Tristan Evely, medical director of the International SOS China, a Beijing clinic. "But high vigilance and monitoring of the situation is absolutely crucial at this point of time."

Related links: 

It started with a cough: Deadly China bird flu outbreak raises fears of pandemic

Deaths from new bird flu underscore grim fears, reports show

US rushes to make vaccine against new bird flu -- just in case

New H7N9 bird flu has officials worried about skimpy resources

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 16, 2013 11:05 AM EDT

News Analysis

BEIJING -- There was confusion at the China-North Korea border Thursday after Chinese tour operators halted trips into the North.

Wang Zhao / AFP - Getty Images

Two men wait Thursday for dispatch at a customs port in the Chinese border city of Dandong. The largest border crossing between North Korea and China has been closed to tourist groups, a Chinese official said Wednesday.

It wasn't clear whether the instruction to do so came from the Chinese authorities, the North Koreans, or was made by the nervous operators themselves.

But it mirrored a wider confusion over Chinese policy toward Pyongyang, which depends on Beijing for food and fuel, as well as diplomatic support.

As North Korea readies what is thought to be a missile test, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei has spent most of the week deflecting questions with the official line that "all sides" should show restraint and begin dialogue, and that peace and stability are a "shared responsibility."

But in an interview with NBC News he was more forthright about China's growing concern. "We do not want to see chaos and conflict on China's doorstep," he said.

In fact, there are signs that China is rethinking its policy toward the North. President Xi Jinping last weekend told a forum of political and business leaders that no country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain." He didn't mention the North by name, but it was pretty clear who he was referring to.

Earlier, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi had told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Beijing would not allow "troublemaking on China's doorstep," a line repeated in an editorial in Thursday's China Daily.

China also supported the latest UN sanctions that followed North Korea's third nuclear test.

In fact, relations between the two have been souring for some time as Pyongyang has consistently ignored calls by Beijing for restraint.

"To many in Beijing, North Korea is looking less like a strategic asset and more like a strategic burden," said Cheng Xiaohe, associate professor at Renmin University's School of International Studies.

In the past, even when clearly unhappy, Beijing has treated the North with kid gloves because of fear of the North collapsing, and also as a hedge against U.S. power in Asia.

'Little Fatty'
According to leaked 2010 diplomat cables obtained by Wikileaks and posted by newspapers the Guardian and the New York Times, Chinese officials described the regime in the North as behaving like a "spoiled child."

Slideshow: North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un

The youngest son of Kim Jong Il succeeded his late father in 2011, becoming the third member of his family to rule the unpredictable and reclusive communist state.

Launch slideshow

Chinese social media, which is as close a barometer of public opinion as you can get here, has in recent days been buzzing with criticism -- not of the U.S., but of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for leading his country to disaster and the world close to war.

Kim is derided as "Little Fatty" or "Fatty the Third."

One former top U.S. diplomat agrees there are clear signs that China is losing patience with North Korea. Kurt Campbell, the state department's top official for east asia, said there are signs that a relationship once described by Chairman Mao to be "as close as lips and teeth" is wearing thin.

He said this was notable in public statements and private conversations with U.S. officials. Speaking last week at a forum at Johns Hopkins University, he said this had the potential for a large impact on northeast Asia.

What's harder to say is how this growing frustration will be translated into concrete actions to pressure the North.

Cheng of Renmin University noted that in 2003 Beijing turned off the oil supply in order to force Pyongyang to join six-party talks and could use that weapon again.

"If China has political will, China can do something," he said. "China can make a difference."

Secretary of State John Kerry will be taking this up with China's leaders when he is there this weekend.

"China and the U.S. share common interests in peace, stability and denuclearisation," said the Foreign Ministry's Hong Lei. "We hope to work with the U.S. side towards that end."

Significantly, there has so far been no Chinese criticism of the display of U.S. high-tech firepower in the region, which is seen as another tacit condemnation of Pyongyang's antics.

That said, Kerry will no doubt point out, as other officials have done privately, that if China fails to act the result will be an even bigger U.S. military presence in the region and a possible regional arms race -- precisely what China has said it wants to avoid.

Related:

US on missile watch as North Korea celebrates

Full North Korea coverage from NBC News

Slideshow: Glimpses into the hermit kingdom of North Korea

David Guttenfelder / AP

As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

Launch slideshow

BEIJING – Exasperated passengers everywhere have at some point felt like lashing out over the frustrations of modern air travel.  One prominent member of China’s Communist Party acted on that urge recently to the undoubted dismay of airline workers but the delight of many online viewers.

In a video that went viral over the weekend, Yan Linkun, a deputy chairman of a mining company and a member of a Communist Party political advisory body in Yunnan, is seen smashing up a gate counter at Kunming Changshui International Airport.

Shanghai Daily reported that Yan, his wife and two 10-year-old sons missed their 11 a.m. flight to the southern Guangdong city of Shenzhen on Feb. 5. The family was put on another flight at 1 p.m. the following day, only to miss that one as well after they went for breakfast and didn't hear the boarding announcement. 

That’s when hostilities kicked off.

Airport surveillance video leaked to local Chinese media on Friday shows Yan’s reaction to the news that he and his family had missed the second flight.

A minute into the video, Yan pushes against the gate’s glass door. He then slaps his hand on the counter, yells and grabs a computer keyboard and hurls it at the screens.

Yan continues to throw equipment at the counter, and at one point tries to kick down the gate door.  Seemingly immobilized airport security personnel and a growing crowd is seen watching the rampage.

His wife, whose name has not been reported, also gets in on the act, and smashes what appears to be a coffee cup midway through the video.

Despite the tantrum, the Shanghai Daily reported that airport police in Kunming were still investigating to determine whether Yan would face any criminal charges.

The paper also reported that Yan had apologized to the airport’s deputy manager, telling him, “My irrational actions and rudeness have caused some losses to the airport as well as bad effects to the public, so I sincerely apologize to the airport and public. I am willing to compensate."

Yan also explained he and his wife had reacted angrily because they were in a hurry to get their children back to school in time for the end of the New Year holiday, the newspaper reported.

That contrition reportedly wasn’t good enough for his bosses. Yan’s employer, Yunnan Mining Corp., suspended him.

The local Communist People's Political Consultative Conference -- one of the regional advisory boards to China’s ruling Communist Party -- was considering whether to impose some kind of punishment, Shanghai Daily reported.

NBC News tried unsuccessfully to contact Yen and Yunnan Mining Corp. to get their version of events.

On China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, users were quick to joke about the meltdown and to ask how in the world Yan had ever risen to become a CPPCC member.

“I suggest that Yan smash an airplane next time so that he can show his real power as a CPPCC member!" one sarcastic user wrote.

Others dismissed the tantrum as the privilege of China’s new moneyed elite.

“That's just how a rich man acts,” wrote one user, “He who has wealth speaks louder than others."

New Communist Party boss, Xi Jinping, has taken a tougher stance against Party corruption and poor behavior since taking power late last year.

A series of high profile anti-graft and corruption campaigns have brought down a number of officials across China and approval from mainland Chinese eager to see systemic corruption stamped out.

NBC News’ Grace Huang contributed to this report.

Related:

China's anti-corruption drive hits New Year Sales

Chinese official booted after account of lurid affair emerges

News analysis

SEOUL, South Korea — As North Korea's biggest political ally and benefactor, China would appear to hold all the cards when it comes to reining in Kim Jong Un's regime.

However, its response to Pyongyang's latest nuclear test was rather muted Tuesday.

Beijing's foreign minister summoned North Korea's ambassador for a dressing down and sternly expressed "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" to the test.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Beijing will also join in a meeting set for later this week to discuss how best to respond to the nuclear test. But it remains unclear if Beijing will support tougher new sanctions, or that any new round of UN sanctions or resolutions will have much impact on the reclusive nation's actions.

Since the 1950-1953 Korean War, North Korea has been subjected to an array of multinational and unilateral sanctions by the international community. The country's leaders have responded to the isolation by focusing even more intently on developing sophisticated weapons and rocket programs that have simultaneously infuriated regional neighbors and drawn them to the negotiating table.

White House: North Korea nuclear test 'highly provocative'

Many regional observers have suggested that international sanctions are doomed to failure as long as Beijing continues to prop up and sustain its neighbor through aid and investment.

Chinatopix via AP

North Korean soldiers stand guard on the river bank of the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong on Tuesday.

Indeed, over the years China has staunchly supported North Korea on the international field, arguing that individual countries have the right to develop rocket programs that were scientific in nature and helping to derail stiffer sanctions against North Korea by the UN.

Last month's surprise announcement that China had joined in with the rest of the UN Security Council in condemning North Korea's latest rocket test seemed to represent a shift in its way of engaging with its neighbor, and long-time Communist comrade. However, it later emerged that China had worked hard to block any new sanctions.

The Associated Press noted:

Despite being the North's biggest source of aid and diplomatic support, Beijing has been reluctant to back more severe measures that could destabilize the North's hardline regime, which serves as a buffer between China and democratic South Korea backed by U.S. forces. 

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's nuclear test, it has been widely reported that China had been working behind the scenes with North Korea to halt the test and suspend their nuclear program.

Officially, China's Foreign Ministry has maintained steady support for North Korea by lamely calling for peace on the Korean peninsula and greater engagement by all parties.

But in China's state-run media, the frustration towards North Korea has become obvious.

A strongly worded opinion piece last week in the typically nationalistic Chinese newspaper, Global Times, called on China's ruling Communist Party to take a tougher stance on North Korea provocations.

"If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price," the paper said, effectively calling for an end to Chinese economic aid to the struggling country as punishment.

The Global Times certainly does not reflect official Chinese policy; state censors tend to give greater latitude to papers like the Global Times, using such media as a spigot from which to turn nationalist sentiment on and off while also gauging popular opinion. But it could indicate the direction China may be prepared to go to ensure stability on its borders.

Although tougher economic sanctions backed by China might cause Kim and his generals to reconsider their drive for more sophisticated nuclear devices, the move could also alienate Pyongyang and create a nuclear-armed rival on its doorstep.

Ed Jones / AFP-Getty Images

A North Korean flag flies above the North Korean Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.

It is for this reason — and the fact that China's leadership transition is not yet complete, with Xi Jinping still not formally president until June —that Beijing's reaction to North Korea transgressions will likely remain subdued.

It appears likely that China will join the Security Council this week in condemning the North Koreans for this nuclear test, but it remains unclear which way Beijing will fall on stronger sanctions.

Their decision could finally shed some light on the opaque political calculus that Beijing uses in dealing with its wayward old ally North Korea.

Related:

North Korea propaganda video shows US city in flames

China state media: N. Korea would pay 'heavy price' for nuclear test

Show of force: US, South Korea hold naval drills

BEIJING -- If you have been following China’s state-controlled news media you could be forgiven for thinking that clear blue skies -- not oppressive and choking smog -- have been the rule this winter.

But, finally, they seem to have noticed there is a problem.

Days after huge smog clouds settled on some of China’s most important cities, The People's Daily ran two articles on the pollution crisis Monday.

And while one headline declared that “Beautiful China begins to breathe healthily,” the article itself detailed the extent of the problems.

China Central Television News Channel also covered the issue extensively over the weekend.

Visibly high levels of air pollution were probably behind the admissions that the smog -- dubbed “fog” by many -- had reached dangerous levels. 

On Monday, air pollution reached "critical levels" in 67 of China's cities, CCTV reported.

State-run media has even begun citing statistics from international environmental group Greenpeace that indicate that more than 2,500 people probably died prematurely in Beijing in 2012 because of air pollution. 

Thousands of deaths estimated
Greenpeace estimated that in 2012, more than 8,000 people suffered premature death in four major cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xian.

Wang Zhao/AFP-Getty Images

Two people wearing face masks make their way along a street in Beijing Tuesday.

Patients in Beijing hospital’s respiratory and pediatric departments increased significantly recently, The Beijing Evening News reported.

About 30 percent of the more than 9,000 patients treated every day at Beijing Children’s Hospital in the week that ended Sunday were suffering from respiratory problems, the newspaper added. The hospital declined NBC’s interview request.

Despite the bad news, some environmentalists were celebrating over the weekend.

“I’m kind of telling myself it’s great that the air pollution reached this level so that the people and the government can finally pay attention,” Li Bo, a board member of non-profit group Friends of Nature, said.

Beijing's bureau of environmental protection held a rare press conference Monday to explain the severity of the pollution problem, and outline an emergency plan to reduce the levels of harmful air particles.

The government’s recent attention to the issue comes after decades of prioritizing economic development over environmental conservation, critics say.

'How come we survive?'
On the streets, many seemed unconcerned.

Ma Xin, a 22-year-old street vendor who sells leather coats, said he did not believe Beijing’s air was all that harmful.

“If Beijing’s air is as bad as you say, how come we survive?” he said, dismissing data about air quality.

And Gong Jingyan, who has a masters degree from a top-tier Chinese university and works at one of most prestigious banks in China, said while she realized the “air is harmful,” she did not like wearing a mask because “they look ugly.”

Gong takes a different approach in an attempt to combat air pollution. “I drink water boiled with pear to help my lungs stay clean,” she said.

Huang Xue, a manager at a public relations firm, also expressed concern, but said there was little that could be done.

“We never had this concept of protecting ourselves from air,” she said. “The only thing I could think of doing was to stay indoors.”

“I am not convinced a mask can do a lot,” she added. “Besides, my 18-month-old son will never keep a mask on.”

However, there is at least one way to cope: Leave town.

As soon as Beijing resident Gao Lin, a part-time lawyer and a mother of two, saw Saturday’s record-breaking pollution levels, she bought tickets to Sanya, a resort island in the South China Sea.

“We are leaving tomorrow,” Gao said. “The only way you can escape from bad air is to leave Beijing.”

NBC News’ Yanzhou Liu contributed to this report

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Imagine a day-long storm with torrential rains and high winds pounding your home. By the time it blows over, you have lost everything you own. And you have no insurance.

This was the scenario in July for residents of Fangshan, a district 50 miles from the center of China's capital Beijing. 

Some 18 inches of rainfall dumped on Fangshan, causing a normally dry river to overflow and flood the surrounding homes. Half of the 77 people killed as a result of the storm were in Fangshan – as were half of the estimated 57,000 people forced to evacuate their homes.

Liu Su Xia, a spirited 60-year-old grandmother, was in her house when the water rushed into the single-story courtyard building. 

"I was terrified," she said. "The water was this red color and went everywhere." 

She grabbed a ladder and clambered up to the second floor window of her neighbor's house to watch. As soon as the water receded, she climbed back down and began cleaning what she could. 

When her 63-year-old husband Xin Zhong Qi returned from the city center, where he was working on a construction site, they toiled together all night and into the next day to salvage what they could.

"There was nothing worth saving," Xin said. "We had to throw everything away."

As for compensation, "the government still hasn't come forward with a plan," Xin said.

'I can only rely on myself'
The flooding in Fangshan highlighted the Chinese state's weaknesses and faults – and also underscored how much ordinary Chinese still have to rely on themselves. In the United States, families rely on homeowners' insurance to protect them against damage from disasters such as Superstorm Sandy, which hit the Northeast in November. But in China, many ordinary people remain unaware of and often unable to buy insurance. 

Read more China coverage on NBC's Behind The Wall

Damage from the flooding across Beijing cost $1.6 billion, according to municipal officials. Authorities have supplied temporary housing in Fangshan and announced plans to help create new permanent housing on safer ground.

But there was plenty of popular outrage over the authorities' handling of the disaster, especially the official casualty count, which many believed to be too low. Then there was criticism over the existing emergency response system, deemed too slow and inefficient. Finally, the destruction of so many homes raised concerns that existing buildings in Fangshan were built on unsafe grounds.

After Hong Kong weathers typhoon, anger roils over Beijing flooding deaths

Xin and Liu have not availed themselves of the temporary housing; it wasn't clear whether they were eligible or whether they did not seek out the option.

Miguel Toran / CNBC Asia

Friends help Xin Zhong Qi repair his home after it was damaged by flooding.

"I can only rely on myself," said Xin. "At least 90 percent of the time, you have to rely on yourself."

When asked whether they had ever heard of homeowners' insurance, Liu cackled.

"Aiya! We’re peasants! Who has that kind of money?"

Xin also admitted he doesn't quite understand what it is. 

An opportunity?
He's probably not the only one. The concept of homeowners' insurance is still new in China. It was barely two decades ago that private home ownership was re-introduced across cities, when the Communist Party gave millions of state workers the opportunity to buy their government-supplied homes at bargain basement rates.

"With around 250 million households entering the middle class in China over the next five or 10 years, that's a great opportunity for insurance products to reach even deeper in the Chinese population," said Joe Ngai, managing partner at McKinsey & Co.'s Hong Kong office.

Hong Kong offers insight into storm prep

In fact, McKinsey believes China will be the second largest insurance market in the world after the U.S. in 2020.

"We would think about insurance if it was offered to us," said Yu Shuang, another Fangshan resident whose home was badly damaged by the flood. Yu and her husband used their savings to repair their house and to replace their furniture and car. "But we're not sure whether we would want to look at what the government might offer or buy our own."

Xin, however, remained skeptical.

"We're old. We don't have that many years left. Why bother [buying insurance]? And we don't have any money," he said. "Anyway, this was a once in a lifetime event. One big flood in 60 years."

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David Gray / Reuters

Two men walk down a deserted street in front of the unopened Ordos Museum on May 11, 2011. In the wake of a coal boom, Ordos was built to house up to 1 million people but only 30,000 live there today.

BEIJING -- With miles of freshly paved roads, little traffic and some seriously avant-garde architecture, the Chinese city of Ordos provides a driving environment most car enthusiasts can only dream of.

Yet rich Chinese who have invested in the resource-rich city are now frantically rushing to sell off their new luxury toys to stem the excessive bleeding that has come with a steep decline in coal prices.

As the boom turns to bust, some luxury car owners are said to be asking for as little as 10 percent of the typical asking price.

Ordos, which sprung up from the deserts of  Inner Mongolia, sits on a massive coal reserve. It supplies about 17 percent of China’s needs.

When coal was discovered there in the early 1990s, farmers cashed in, selling their land at sky-high prices to private coal mining companies.

The boom sent hundreds of thousands of migrant workers flocking to Ordos.

However, the bubble burst in July. Coal prices dropped for 11 straight weeks, leading to rampant lay-offs and little or no profit for local coal companies.

Full China coverage on NBC News' Behind the Wall blog

One report suggested that 300,000 migrant workers who had traveled to Ordos to live and work had since left.

“Now that the economy is bad, many migrants have left,” lamented Li Rui, a cab driver in Ordos. “It’s still busy downtown, but it’s nothing like Beijing.”

'Anxious to sell'
But those gaping numbers are not the ones that Chinese netizens are breathlessly talking about.

Fueled by a recent report in the Economic Observer, the Internet exploded with rumors that some car owners in Ordos were liquidating their assets for as much as 90 percent off the going rate.

On a popular Ordos-based car sales website, one seller listed a 2009 Porsche Cayman for $79,032. Another owner had listed a Hummer for $80,600 with the plea, “anxious to sell.” In Beijing, a similar model Cayman would usually sell for $110,000, the Hummer for $121,000.

Zhou Hai, the manager of an Ordos-based dealership called Haohai Used Car Company, told NBC News that while prices have plummeted, it is not to the extent that people had claimed.

“The Internet is saying that my prices are 90 percent off, but in fact it’s only 50 percent,” he said.

Chinese paper falls for Onion 'sexiest man alive' spoof

Zhou noted that he had a used 2010 Range Rover selling for $160,000, compared to the average price of $207,000 in other parts of China.

Cars imported to China typically are taxed extensively, sometimes raising the retail price to as much as three times the usual U.S. price.

'Nail house' holds up traffic as homeowners fight local government

Ordos was supposed to be China’s Dubai, but the city built for 1 million people today has only 30,000 residents.

Investors across China have snatched up real estate – often with no intention to move in or rent out – in remote places like Ordos as a safe place to keep and grow their money.

China’s stock market is too unpredictable, bank interest rates in China are too low and strict government-mandated limitations on how Chinese can invest their money have encouraged many people to put their money into real estate.

'Ghost cities'
This phenomenon has contributed to what many experts believe to be a serious housing bubble and the rise of an increasing number of what have become known in China as “ghost cities.”

Speaking to NBC News earlier this year, Gillem Tulloch, managing director of research firm Forensic Asia described the confluence of these economic events for ghost cities like Ordos as being: “Empty roads, empty buildings, empty neighborhoods, empty cities -- all over China.”

The ghosts that haunt China's economic landscape

Meamwhile, a report from Ordos’ municipal government noted that at the end of April only 40 percent of Ordos' 324 residential construction projects were still under way. Of the 49 new projects, only seven were said to still be in progress.

According to Zhang Xiaofei of Ruili Real Estate in Ordos, 20 percent more people each month are trying to sell their homes in the city, and prices are as low as $320 per square meter, compared to the average suburban price of $800 per square meter.

NBC News’ Yanzhou Liu contributed to this report.

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