Since Zhang Heping left the coal mining industry and channelled its hefty proceeds into launching an animation company, he has been able to sleep more soundly at night, he says.

"The alarms freaked me out as they always brought bad messages," the former coal baron remembers of the warning system used to signal an accident in one of his pits. Such constant pressure culminated in Zhang changing businesses after the death in 2000 of one of his miners in the coal-rich north Chinese province of Shanxi.

The 59 year old is now one of many one-time mining kingpins whom circumstances have shaped into an unexpected source of funding and leadership for the province's booming culture industry.

As much as the hardships and moral questions of the mining profession, the migration has also been driven by regulation. Some mine leaders have left the industry entirely, while others have chosen to diversify their interests -- many favoring culture enterprises -- to mitigate against the increasing difficulty of making money from mining.

Hundreds of Shanxi mine bosses were forced out by industry reshuffling after the province was designated by China's central government in 2008 to pilot reform of the coal industry. Substandard mines were shut down and smaller ones merged into competitive mining conglomerates.

Shanxi retained its role as China's top coal producer until neighboring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region overtook its output two years ago. There were 1,053 coal mines managed by 130 mining enterprises in Shanxi by the end of 2011, down from 4,278 mines before the reform started, according to figures revealed to Xinhua by local authorities.

But mining's loss in the province has been the culture industry's gain. Currently, about 90 percent of famous historical and scenic spots in Shanxi are developed by coal-mining companies, and an estimated 32 billion yuan of investment has been poured into the cultural industry in the past three years by mining firms, according to the official stats.

Decades of rampant mining in Shanxi not only resulted in huge environmental losses but also heavy casualties.

Zhang gave the deceased miner's family 55,000 yuan (about 8,731 U.S.dollars) in compensation, which he maintains was very generous for the time, and chose to stay away from the high-risk industry.

"I have been tortured by this memory for all these years," Zhang says. "Coal mining is not a good deed for our offspring."

Zhang's animation firm started by producing a cartoon series with over 36 million yuan of first-phase investment pooled along with four other shareholders. Based on the ancient Chinese tale of 28 Constellations, the series's first part has already been aired on China Central Television.

"Second-phase investment will reach 1 billion yuan. We plan to develop affiliated cultural products featuring images of the cartoon characters," Zhang explains.

Perhaps more importantly, the former mining chief says he is proud he now has a cultural legacy for his two children. The man who had only middle school education has sent his younger son to major in animation at college, and hopes the boy will eventually take over the family business.

Kong Qingxiang, on the other hand, is one of those industry chiefs who has diversified his company's interests. As chairman, he has led state-owned Jinchen Coal Mining Co. toward investing in tourism.

The company has pumped over 200 million yuan into tourist attractions on Jueshan Mountain since 2006.

"Unlike earning quick money from mining, investing in culture-related industries such as tourism is akin to pouring money into a black hole, which means you have to be patient enough for the returns," according to Kong.

But the returns are comparatively steady. And the industry also enjoys the government's policy supports, which make it more worthwhile for long-term investment than the property sector, for example, explains Kong, whose ideas are echoed by mining bosses across Shanxi.

"Cultural businesses have also helped push our company to develop advanced management conduct and win respect from our employees," Kong adds.

The company's tourism businesses have also created jobs for retired miners or those who have been injured at work. The Jueshan Mountain scenic area has provided over 180 such positions, he says.

However, stepping into the cultural industry is far from an easy task for bosses of either private or state-owned mines. "It requires specialties and foresight," notes Zhang Heping.