China
Folk song contests, fruit picking and birdwatching are innovative ways to boost village tourism
By Hu Fan  ·  2020-11-10  ·   Source: NO.46 NOVEMBER 12, 2020
Longquan Forest Park in Zuoquan in 2017 (VCG)

With the National Day holiday in October showing a remarkable surge in domestic travels, a sign of the revival of the tourism industry, Zhao Xia is looking forward to having lots of guests at her homestay.

Zhao's old house in Zecheng, a village in Zuoquan County, Shanxi Province in north China, has recently been refurbished, funded mostly by the local government. Two rooms have been modified into guest rooms and the kitchen and toilet have been renovated.

It's part of the drive to develop tourism in the village. So far, 37 of the 400-odd houses have been converted into homestays and two into restaurants. A reception center for tourists has come up and the streets have been beautified. A training center has just been built where people from other parts of the county come to attend sessions.

Zhao's homestay opened earlier this year and she is optimistic about its prospects, considering the efforts of the local government to transform the village into a tourist resort.

In the past, she and her husband used to depend on the meager income from the crops they grew on their barren land on the hills. Now she can earn money by running the homestay while her husband works seasonally in a factory in Taiyuan, capital city of the province.

The village has carried out the ambitious plan initiated by the county in 2017 to develop ecology- and culture-oriented tourism for rural revitalization.

The grand finale of the second Zuoquan Folk contest in Zhaojiazhuang Village on August 24 (XIN LANFU)

Ecological appeal

Zuoquan has rich resources for developing tourism. Located on the west side of the Taihang Mountains, one of China's most important mountain ranges, it offers breathtaking views and a cool summer. It also has many historical and cultural sites.

To improve accessibility, the county started building a road network in 2018. So far, 168 km of main roads and branches have been paved or renovated, which connect over 280 tourist sites.

An afforestation project has been carried out to plant trees with golden leaves along the roads, creating a scenic belt known as the Golden Valley. The villagers already get an income from the project by renting their land and working as gardeners.

Agriculture is also being redirected to boost tourism. For example, fruit and vegetable gardens have been designed to provide tourists with both sightseeing and fruit-picking experiences.

As one of the few counties in Shanxi that have rich water resources, Zuoquan is also developing tourism along the rivers running through it. A project has been carried out to reinforce and beautify the banks of the Qingzhang River, a major river running through the county, and clear its bed of silt.

Zhaojiazhuang Village is a direct beneficiary of the project. Located by a tributary of the Qingzhang, the village is famous as a bird habitat and attracts about 20,000 bird lovers each year. The 500-meter stretch of the river near the village has been spruced up.

In addition, the project has brought job opportunities for the locals. By policy, at least 60 percent of the individuals working on the project have to be locals from poor households, according to Hou Xiuying, Director of Zuoquan's Bureau of Water Resources.

"They earn a minimum monthly salary of 3,500 yuan ($524)," she told Beijing Review.

Cultural booster

Among the brand-building measures for local tourism, Zuoquan Folk, a folk song contest, is a highlight.

Thanks to a singing tradition that dates back to ancient times, the county has developed a unique school of singing with a repertoire of around 20,000 folk songs. The folk song contest was started in 2019 to leverage that resource and boost tourism. Singers from all over the world are invited to take part in it.

To host the event, a theater has been built as its permanent venue. Delicately designed and located among high rocks, the theater has become a landmark that attracts tourists as well.

At the final of the second Zuoquan Folk contest in August, the finalists were chosen from around 100 folk singers from seven countries. The judges were among China's top folk song stars.

Apart from the Zuoquan Folk contest, the county also holds monthly folk song contests to discover local talents. One hundred singers discovered in the contests have been hired as tour guides, who added color to the sightseeing with folk songs.

The contests and other measures for attracting tourists have already taken effect. So far, about 1,500 people across the county have made an average extra income of around 2,200 yuan ($330) per year from operating homestays and other sites for experiencing rural living.

In Zecheng, the effect is not as immediate. So for now, Zhao's homestay depends on the trainees who come to the village to attend courses. But she remains confident about the future as the village is changing for the better.

(Print Edition Title: A Welcome Note)

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

Comments to yanwei@bjreview.com

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