Overseas talent returns to hometown in Henan to boost local development

After graduating from the University of Denver in the United States in 2015, post-90s Chinese Pei Jiang returned to his hometown in Peizhai village, Huixian city of central China’s Henan Province to boost local development by upgrading its tourism services and the local industrial chain for special agricultural products.

Pei Jiang (C) and his colleagues check the growth progress of tulips at a planting base. (Photo/People's Daily Overseas Edition)

Since 2016, Pei has served as general manager of the city’s Baoquan tourist resort, which is known for its deep forests, steep cliffs, clear waters and beautiful waterfalls. Despite its picturesque scenery, the resort encountered a bottleneck in its overall operations back then.

“The resort failed to attract enough tourists. It received about 700,000 tourists in 2014 and 2015, respectively, which failed to meet expectations,” Pei said.

Realizing that raising the resort’s profile was the key to attracting more tourists, Pei decided to make full use of newly emergent short-video platforms to cultivate online influencers to promote the tourism destination. Meanwhile, he introduced new tourism-friendly supports such as ropeways and outdoor elevators to provide a better traveling experience to tourists.

To improve the added value of local tourism, Pei invited a professional team headed by Professor Yan Guotai from the Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute to provide high-standard planning for the resort. He also recruited talents with rich experience in scenic area management from Beijing and central China’s Hunan Province to improve the resort’s management.

Pei’s efforts have started paying off. Between 2017 and 2019, the resort received more than 2 million tourists each year, becoming a popular tourism destination.

Pei Jiang (front C) and his colleagues participate in disaster relief efforts in a flood-stricken area in July 2021. (Photo/People's Daily Overseas Edition)

After many years’ efforts to develop the local tourism industry, the resort has made great strides to help neighboring villagers improve their livelihoods. While some villagers have found jobs at the resort, others run homestays or restaurant businesses.

Taking advantage of its favorable geographic position, Gezhenzhuang village, which is located near the resort, has provided villagers with a better life by boosting tourism activity. More than 410 households, or 95 percent of the total number of households in the village, have become engaged in the tourism industry, with tourism revenues accounting for 84.5 percent of the village’s total income.

“Over 600 households in nearby villages run tourism businesses, embracing better lives,” Pei said proudly.

Meanwhile, Pei has helped farmers in Peizhai village to increase the added value of their sweet potatoes by rolling out various processed sweet potato products and selling them via e-commerce platforms, thus driving income growth for local farmers.

“We helped increase the per mu (about 0.07 hectare) income of sweet potato growers by over 4,500 yuan (about $709.2), and directly lifted 406 impoverished households out of poverty,” Pei said.

Pei and his team have also helped farmers in the village to plant flowers. Now the village’s flower and vegetable planting bases create more than 800 jobs for residents, bringing over 2 million yuan in additional income to the village.