A column of recovery vehicles heads to the Dongfeng Landing Site in Ejine Banner, Alshaa League. [Photo/WeChat account of Ejine Banner Convergence Media Center]

The return capsule from the Shenzhou 14 manned spacecraft landed on Dec 4 at the Dongfeng Landing Site in Alshaa League, located in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to local media reports.

The Dongfeng Landing Site is situated in Ejine Banner, adjacent to the Badain Jaran Desert in the southeast and is located in the north and east of Dongfeng Aerospace City, with a total area of about 13,000 square kilometers.

The territory there is vast and sparsely populated, with less rain and the flat surface is ideal for the rapid searches and landings of helicopters. 

The landing site is divided into eastern and western areas. The western area is mainly dominated by the Gobi Desert's terrain, which is conducive to the passage of search and rescue vehicles. The region in the eastern area is relatively geologically complex, mainly including soft Gobi Desert terrain, Haloxylon forest, saline-alkali land and a grass lake.

Recovery teams get to work after the space capsule comes to earth at the Dongfeng Landing Site. [Photo/WeChat account of Ejine Banner Convergence Media Center]

The Ejine Dongfeng Landing Site has been used as an alternate landing field for the Siziwang Banner Landing Field before.

On June 26, 2016, a scaled-down return capsule from the multi-purpose spacecraft carried by the Long March 7 carrier rocket returned at the Dongfeng Landing Site, marking the first time that the landing site had been used in the manned spaceflight program.

On May 8, 2020, the return module from China's new-generation manned spacecraft test ship landed in a designated position at the Dongfeng Landing Site.

For the manned flight mission of the Shenzhou 12 spacecraft, the landing site was adjusted from one in Siziwangqi Banner to the Ejine Dongfeng Landing Site and the emergency standby search and rescue mode of the Dongfeng Landing Site system was activated for the first time.