My colleagues from the China Daily Guangxi bureau and I took a week-long drive through Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region - from Nanning, the capital, southwest and south to Chongzuo and Qinzhou.

We wound our way around lush green limestone karst peaks, the beauty of the landscape rivaling that of Yangshuo in Guilin. We crossed zigzagging rivers and passed by the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Although we often perspired as we traveled through this sub-tropical area, the air was fresh, the mountains pristine, and the rivers almost free of pollution.

Along the Nanning-Youyiguan (Friendship Pass) highway, clusters of orange or yellow, two- or three-story farmhouses dotted the hills.

A decade or two ago, a county town in this part of China usually had only one main street. But this time, I found that the word "town" is no longer sufficient to describe the seat of such counties as Longzhou, Ningming, and Lingshan, where we stopped to eat.

With populations of several hundred thousand or more, these "towns" are becoming urban centers with factories, shops, restaurants, banks and other services, as well as multi-story apartment buildings.

The city of Chongzuo houses the prefecture-level administration governing five counties, one city and one district. A couple of 22-story apartment buildings are near completion, and there are plans for more high-rise hotels and business complexes.

A building boom is already underway in the southern part of Guangxi, which has been designated as the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone. Construction is sure to continue since the central government gave the go-ahead in March to turn this new economic zone into "a cluster of urban towns".

These new "urban towns" will play multiple roles, first as "a vast stage for cooperation between China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)" and also as "a new growth engine for China".

The go-ahead follows a national plan for the economic development of the Beibu Gulf, approved two years ago, under which new ports, iron and steel plants, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, paper mills, and other industrial and trade facilities will dot the region, especially the coastline.

I confess I have mixed feelings about what is unfolding in the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, where my mother's family comes from. The new development programs promise a future of economic growth and prosperity, lifting many people in the under-developed villages and towns out of poverty.

Both the economic and urban development plans also stipulate protection of the local ecology and environment. The blueprint for urban growth demands that the region strive to "set an example" not only for "scientific development" but also for "balanced progress between urban and rural areas". According to the plan, the area should also become "an ecologically and environmentally friendly coastal area".

Despite these assurances, I cannot help but be concerned. A lot depends on whether the central and local governments take serious steps to control the impact of development plans on the air, the rivers, and the land.

Coastal areas from Guangdong to Fujian to Jiangsu to Zhejiang have experienced rapid economic growth in the past 30 years, but their rivers, soil and air have paid a price. The cities not only suffer from traffic congestion and urban heat islands, but also from serious social and economic imbalances.

A lot of people, including Prof Pan Wenshi, China's leading expert on the giant panda, have expressed their concern, but most believe there is no way for the area to retreat from industrialization.

Local officials are also clear about the need to balance growth with protection for the environment. Xiao Yingzi, the mayor of Qinzhou, told me that she and her colleagues will do all they can to blaze a new trail for sustainable development.

Other officials reminded me that I must try to see beyond my own prejudices. Visitors from metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai may be tired of looking at skyscrapers, Huang Yinghong, a local official in Chongzuo, told us, but "we haven't been there yet."

She made a good point. Still, I hope that the new economic zone will take legal and administrative measures to ensure that the pristine ecology and clean environment the region now enjoys are not sacrificed for the sake of economic development. The people of Guangxi must not get "there", only to find their air and water polluted and their lush green mountains and fine beaches despoiled.

The author is Assistant Editor-in-Chief of China Daily. She can be reached at lixing@chinadaily.com.cn.