China
Xinjiang develops its tourism industry with a focus on rural areas
By Li Fangfang  ·  2021-10-15  ·   Source: NO.42 OCTOBER 21, 2021
A bird's eye view of the newly created "Western Wuzhen" tourist hotspot in Wuerhe District, Karamay City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (LI FANGFANG)

Wuerhe, located 90 km from downtown Karamay City in the northern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is home to some 50,000 people from 10 ethnic groups, including Han, Mongolian and Uygur. It is widely known because of the popular Ghost Town scenic spot boasting the Yadan landscape and the dreaded howling of the ferocious winds. Additionally, the district is located on the route to Kanas, an even better-known landmark in northern Xinjiang.

Xinjiang had been a top travel destination long before the region was engulfed by bouts of extremist thought and attacks. Its rich landscapes and inclusive cultures intermingling with numerous ethnic traditions featured high on the list of many explorers from home and abroad. As the region in northwest China has shaken off both absolute poverty and the radicalized mindset that once poisoned its surroundings, its innate beauty has once again attracted travelers.

During this year's National Day holiday on October 1-7, the region registered more than 7.6 million trips, with tourism revenue reaching a staggering 4.73 billion yuan ($736 million).

Tourism serves as the gateway for regional residents to attain shared prosperity.

Go-getters

Tourism has opened the door to prosperity for Wuerhe. A milestone in local tourism development was reached in March 2020, when 104 villagers from Wuerhe took the initiative by authorizing the local government to turn their homes into guest houses for tourists passing through. And doing so will add value to their properties.

Locals used to live off farming or grazing, or seek job opportunities in other places. They weren't gaining too much from tourism.

"The town was a very isolated community and 'change' was not in its dictionary," said Han Lijun, vice head of Chagancao Village in the town where most of the 104 trailblazers hailed from.

In 2017, Han had an epiphany. She figured she'd do something innovative that would benefit her birthplace Chagancao. When visiting home during one of her college breaks, she saw improved roads replacing the outdated and rugged ones and entertainment infrastructures popping up one by one. Confident in the development momentum of the village, she gave up a job opportunity in the city of Zhengzhou in central China, where she was studying at the time, and returned home following her graduation in 2019.

Han was not the only local resident who came to realize that the gradual changes occurring in Wuerhe could offer a promising future. The district government had already started exploring new methods of development before 2017, namely by activating more tourism resources.

The Restore Your Yard project in 2017 and 2018 kicked off a series of plans through which locals and officials developed an enhanced mutual understanding.

Different from cities where private gardens are a rare sight for sore eyes, having your own backyard is far more common in the rural villages. Nevertheless, in Xinjiang, most of these were not being efficiently tended to or decorated, especially because locals had only made their way out of poverty in 2020.

"In some yards, the soil was hard and we had to use excavation tools to make it soft and fertile," Tuo Junrong, an official with the Wuerhe district government, told Beijing Review.

Given the fact that most residents left behind in villages at the time were senior citizens, over 300 officials, including Tuo, were designated to assist local families in fully developing their yards by growing vegetables and fruits and raising fowl, increasing the average annual income per family by 2,000 yuan ($311) in 2017.

Nevertheless, the officials did not have the trust of locals from the very beginning. Some thought it was all just for show. "Residents didn't join us in tending to their yards for quite some time. But when they felt we were truly working from the heart and for their own good, the attitude changed," Tuo, who spent many after-work hours in the village yards throughout 2017 and 2018, explained.

In this project, a pilot model of a yard-turned-Airbnb called "Rose Garden," created with the support of the government, stood out, with sales reaching some 2 million yuan ($310,800) in 2019. This inspired more locals to work with the government and in turn resulted in the initiative launched by the 104 villagers.

People first

Village representatives like 27-year-old Han played a key role in coordinating with villagers and district officials on questions and answers before a new tourism project entitled "Western Wuzhen" was launched in May 2020.

Over 98 percent of Wuerhe residents agreed to join. The comprehensive project, designed to include canteens, accommodation, entertainment and shopping facilities, started construction in June 2020 with a total investment of 2 billion yuan ($310.8 million). Within one year, the whole newly constructed area, covering 1.53 square km, was completed and partially opened for a test run in May 2021.

"The efficiency was beyond my imagination," local resident Ou Qing, who was in charge of the project's resettlement tasks, said. "It has been for the good of all villagers," he added.

"Within a year, not only the project, but the resettlement compound as well had been finished," said Wu Mingshun, a native who has moved into a resettlement flat. The move required a down payment, worth six years' of project profits, which was paid upfront by the government.

Villagers involved in the project share the profits on an annual basis, according to their contracts with the government. The latter serves as a medium between the people and the market to guarantee residents run zero risk. For now, state owned enterprises remain the undertaking's main constructors and operators.

"We have fully evaluated the risks of project execution. The ultimate goal of the government is to take up responsibility for its people," said Xue Hongshun, a district leader of Wuerhe. Xue was also the mastermind behind the inspiring mini "Rose Garden" model. "In the past, residents didn't believe running a homestay could be profitable. I needed to show them," Xue said.

Seventy-one-year-old villager Zhou Dianxing was excited to get this year's share of 30,000 ($4,662) in June. He now resides in a nursing home for free. Those senior citizens who didn't want to move into the resettlement flats were presented with this option.

In 2019, Wuerhe saw 2.72 million tourist trips. During peak season, from May to October, hotels usually fall short of demand. Based on that, if all 8,000 beds in the project were booked, accommodation revenue could reach up to 288 million yuan ($44.8 million) per year.

"There will be more visitors once the project fully opens up. And we will have more business opportunities," said Tursungul Hasan, a villager of Chagancao.

The project is expected to generate more than 3,000 jobs for the local service industry and help boost the agriculture and manufacturing industries. Moreover, an increasing number of young people are considering returning home to work.

Life has a lot more to offer. Just look at Ou, a young man who had felt a bit lost in life and used to indulge in alcohol a little too often, but now has his mind firmly set on the future. "I have a career path to carve out here. Today, I can really taste the ambition," Ou said. 

(Print Edition Title: Gateway to Shared Prosperity)  

(Reporting from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

Comments to ffli@bjreview.com

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