The revival of rural economy: ecological and cultural industries boom in Chinese villages

Famous for its cherry blossom, Doumulong Village built a 500-meter boulevard, planting various cherry trees on each side. (Photo by Quzhou local government)

A small village surrounded by lofty hills, Jinxi Village in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, is famed for its striking combination of fragrant tulip blossoms, well-preserved ancestral houses, winding cobblestone alleyways and babbling brooks. All components of this hamlet give off a feeling of natural beauty and historical significance, attracting countless travelers to this utopia of 599 residents.

Showcasing cultural and ecological tourism, the village attracted over 400,000 visitors in 2018, earning small rural inns and restaurants an average of 8,000 yuan ($1,128) a day during the peak tourism season. Visiting this idyllic village, tourists could hardly imagine that just five years ago, it was an untrodden and isolated land, while its residents used to live a humble life.

"Though the birthplace of Go, our village wasn't well known by the public. The roads here were terrible, isolating us from the outside world. With abundant natural and cultural resources, we didn't know how to utilize them. At that time, agriculture was our major economic pillar and income," said Xu Yuejin, secretary of Jinxi Village Party Branch.

The dilemma started to improve in 2014, when the local government decided to take advantage of the village's cultural and natural resources, shifting its development focus from traditional agriculture to green tourism. The move was inspired by Chinese President Xi Jinping's "Two Mountains" theory, first proposed in 2005, which calls clear water and lush mountains invaluable assets, comparable to the gold and silver of legend.

Jinxi is not the only successful example of rural industrial transformation in Quzhou. Quzhou city, steeped in history and greenery, initiated a plan to turn its rural areas into an "ecological barrier and grand garden" in 2016 and has successfully renovated 88 villages, restoring their ancient appearance, making them the city's ecological and cultural name cards.

"The cultural and natural preservation and promotion have brought wealth, as well as a feeling of contentment and happiness to our residents, and each village has found their unique way of promoting green and cultural industries," said Xu Wenguang, Party chief of Quzhou.

A grand garden with natural and cultural beauties

Flower fields in Jinxi Village have now become a famous tourist site. (Photo by Kou jie)

Every village featuring tourism has an appealing legend, and Jinxi is no exception. As the hometown of Go, its story sounds similar to Rip Van Winkle, only it predates its American counterparts by at least a millennium.

Compactly nested under Lanke Mountain, Jinxi Village was the hometown of Wang Zhi, an ancient woodcutter. According to Shuyiji, a collection of Chinese folklore and legends written in the Liang Dynasty (502 - 557), Wang met two kids playing Go in the Lanke Mountain, and was so fascinated that he put down his axe and began to watch. After a few rounds, he found that his axe handle had rotted to dust. Back home, he discovered that hundreds of years had passed and that no one in the village remembered his name. Lanke, meaning "rotten axe handle" in ancient Chinese, has then become a literary name for Go.

Thousands of years have now passed, and the legend remains in this small village. Walking through the streets, each house is decorated with a Go manuscript, with several Go centers scattered around the village.

"Go is our cultural name card, which we are now using as a visitor attraction. All the houses in our village are decorated in white and black, representing Go. If you look down to the village from Lanke mountain, all the buildings are scattered as Go pieces on a grid," said Xu Yuejin.

According to Xu, the village started to exploit its cultural significance in 2014, establishing the Lanke Go Institute, as well as holding national Go competitions. The once unknown village has become a sacred land for Go players and visitors, generating remarkable income for its residents.

The village has also taken advantage of its natural beauty. In 2014, the village cleaned up an area of wasteland 2,000 square meters in size, planting flowers to hold the first "Jinxi Flower Sea Festival." Five years later, the flower festival has become a pillar of the local economy, with countless varieties including sunflowers, cherry blossom and tulips planted on a land area of 2.67 hectares.

"The combination of natural and cultural resources has brought us high income, and now our living environment is much better too. I believe the green industry is our future development strategy," said Xu.

Cozy rural houses in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Kou Jie)

A few kilometers from Jinxi, Doumulong Village, a small hamlet of 1,155 residents, has explored a way to highlight its cultural and natural specialties. Famous for its cherry blossom, the village built a 500-meter boulevard, planting various cherry trees on each side. Visitors are drawn to this natural beauty, picking fresh fruits on private farms, as well as enjoying countryside cuisine in rural inns.

"From the 1950s to the end of the Cultural Revolution, countless young people left urban districts to help us develop our home. Those educated youth, known as Zhiqing in modern Chinese history, have forged the memories of our village," said Xie Weifu, secretary of Doumulong Village Party Branch.

According to Xie, the village has been making an effort to build Zhiqing-themed inns and a cultural center, helping visitors to understand the particular period of China's history, as well as learning the selfless contribution of the educated youth.

"In Quzhou, the rural development has three goals: environmental protection is the bottom line, cultural heritage is the soul, while specialty is life. Depending on different cultural and natural resources, each village has created unique ways of development," said Xie.

With countless efforts towards ecological and cultural development, Quzhou has become one of the nine regions with an excellent ecological environment in China, with a forest coverage rate of 71 percent, and most of the surface water possesses first- or second-class quality. Most villages with over 500 residents have built a village cultural center, promoting their unique cultural heritage.

Cozy rural lifestyle

Old houses in Dahe Village are renovated by wasted materials such as broken porcelain and dampened bricks. (Photo by Kou Jie)

With the fast development in rural areas, most villages in Quzhou have been renovated with modern facilities, though the tradition and tranquility of the countryside have been well-preserved.

Working in his backyard vegetable plantation, He Jiede, a resident of Dahe Village, happily harvested potatoes while chatting with his neighbors. Inside his small farm, a homemade scarecrow had been dressed in traditional costume, and closeby, a sign bearing the slogan "feeling the beauty of nature" shone out from the raspberry bushes.

In Dahe Village, every household has such a plantation. Built using wasted materials such as broken porcelain and dampened bricks, they are called "one-meter plantations." The owners decorate them, using them as both an entertainment and social ground.

"Before, our village was dirty and ugly. The local authorities have restored our ancestral houses, hiring artists to help us build small plantations. The local officials talk to us in the plantation when we are working, I feel quite happy about that," said He.

In Dahe Village, every household has such a plantation. Built using wasted materials such as broken porcelain and dampened bricks, they are called "one-meter plantations." (Photo by Kou Jie)

The local authorities have also built a kindergarten for the villagers, as well as a cultural center for the adults. According to local authorities, such a kindergarten and cultural center will be built in every village in Quzhou, to enrich the daily lives of locals.

"Quzhou's rural development has been praised by society, attracting countless visitors. I think we've found the right way to revive rural development, helping the villagers to live a better life," said Xu Wenguang.