Country lifestyle attracts people to village

Picking up eggs, digging up sweet potatoes, running after chickens …On a recent weekend, a Beijing parent surnamed Zhang and her son had a great time in Huangshandian village in the city's Fangshan district.

"My son is having so much fun and is curious about everything here. He has never done farm work before and is asking to come here again," Zhang told Beijing-based China Tourism News.

Zhang and her son are among large numbers of Beijing residents who recently visited Huangshandian village, which has grown into a popular tourist destination in some 10 years.

Since 2001, Huangshandian began to build limestone quarries and cement plants to capitalize on its natural resources. They brought increased earnings to the villagers but caused pollution and damage to the environment.

In 2009, the village decided to direct its focus on ecotourism and started to build the Pofengling scenic area, which covers more than 133 hectares.

Idle farmhouses in the village have been remodeled into more than 60 farmstays. Huangshandian now has more than 400,000 tourist arrivals on average every year, generating over 20 million yuan ($2.83 million) in revenue annually, China Tourism News reported.

"It's worth noting that 80 percent of the employees of the Pofengling scenic area are villagers from Huangshandian and nearby villages," Xu Yingli, manager of the scenic area, told China Tourism News."As long as they wish to work in the village, they can find something to do."

Huangshandian also offers study tours for children. They include science classes and experiences, such as identifying medicinal plants in a herb garden and learning about the 24 solar terms of the Chinese lunar calendar through farming experiences.

"My favorite projects are adventures in the mushroom house and the outdoor pumpkin rolling classes. They are different from what I learn in school," a child surnamed Zhang told China Tourism News about a recent visit to U World Nature Education Farm in Xiacun village, Fangshan district.

Besides a campground, a playground and a viewing area for crops, the 330,000-square-meter facility has a restaurant, cafe, library and animal zone. It has received 45,000 visits since its trial operation at the end of July, according to China Tourism News.

Li Qiang, manager of U World Nature Education Farm, told the newspaper that he considers the farm a powerful vehicle for vitalizing Xiacun village. His ultimate goal is to grow it together with the countryside.

More than 30 out of the 50-plus employees of U World are locals, according to the news report. The farm purchases raw materials from nearby companies and farmers, and sells their products on its online platform.

Round, plump persimmons in Fangshan's Dayugou village attracted large numbers of tourists in late autumn.

The village's tourism business has been flourishing since an experiment on driving rural vitalization with the farmstay business was conducted by two professors three years ago.

In 2019, Zhu Qijiu, former president of the Beijing Agricultural Radio and Television School and professor of Beijing Vocational College of Agriculture, and Zhu Qizhen, director of the Institute of Farmers' Issues at China Agricultural University and a doctoral supervisor, returned to their hometown of Dayugou village with the hope of bettering the lives of villagers with their know-how.

Zhu Qijiu tore down his old house in the village and rebuilt a two-story "doctor's house" with white walls and gray tiles.

The doctor's house not only offers accommodation, but experiential programs designed to enhance children's knowledge about nature and their psychological well-being. They include plant tie-dyeing classes and bird-watching.

"I learned about lots of birds that I had never heard of before," a primary school student surnamed Xia who participated in a bird-watching activity said to China Tourism News excitedly. "I never knew that the countryside was so much fun."

Dayugou village has set up a professional cooperative with a focus on persimmons and ecology, which offers cooking and management courses for villagers. Many young people working away from their hometown of Dayugou have returned to start their own businesses.

Going forward, Zhu Qijiu told China Tourism News: "Under the leadership of the Party branch of Dayugou village, we will work to create a new business model that integrates rural tourism with the local rural culture and the villagers' production cycle and lifestyle, with the aim of bringing happiness to more people."