Every spring, Li Xiang, a nurse in Beijing, saunters through the Chinese capital's numerous parks to take in their kaleidoscopic floral displays and welcome the new, vibrant season. But this April, she discovered an event where she and her friends enjoyed the blossoming of both Mother Nature's and humankind's hard work.

Beijing's suburban Pinggu District, home to the famous Pinggu peach and an annual festival themed on peach flowers, attracts many visitors like Li. In addition to admiring the ravishing flowers in full bloom, they can also catch an art show or performance.

For example, this year's festival had a small concert, with musicians dressed to the nines in traditional Chinese costumes playing traditional instruments like the guzheng—a plucked zither. "It was mesmerizing. Combining natural scenery, local specialties and art, this festival gave off a refreshing vibe. It was quite different from the usually more avant-garde art festivals you usually have in cities," Li told Beijing Review.

An air of flair

Pinggu's peach blossom festival has taken place every year around mid-April since it first came into being in 1992. Back then, the event was mainly aimed at selling fruit and increasing farmers' incomes. Over the course of three decades, it has evolved into a grand gathering that introduces visitors, both from home and abroad, to local specialties and culture.

Since 2011, in line with the local government's call to turn the district into a music industry hub, the festival has been infused with a host of musical elements, including traditional Chinese music, rock and pop performances.

"Living and working in the hustle and bustle of downtown Beijing, a quick escape to the countryside can prove a good way to release some stress," Li said. "Plus, the fresh fruit as well as customs and practices here all make me want to spend more time in the countryside during my annual holidays."

Compared with urban life and its wide-ranging forms of entertainment, life in the countryside used to be rather bland. In recent years, as part of their strategies to boost local tourism, many villages across China have been hosting art-based events jampacked with rural tradition, which sets them apart from those presented by their more modern urban peers. This is also another way to promote rural revitalization, a core component of the central authorities' strategies to promote a more balanced economic and social progress nationwide.

"Cultural progress is an integral part of rural revitalization and it can also be a driving force for rural development," Cheng Xuesong, professor of the Department of Design at Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts under Shanghai University, said in an article published on the Shanghai Observer news portal in March.

Modern art elements have also entered the rural areas. Cheng and his colleagues, with the support of local authorities, launched an art exhibition in Jianghai Village in Shanghai's Fengxian District that ran for one month, starting from March 3. Set inside a former vegetable and fruit greenhouse, the exhibition displayed paintings, statues and other works from artists and art students nationwide. The works spoke to a general, layman public.

For example, one art installation presented a bunch of white balloons hanging from the roof. On the balloons were handwritten Chinese characters, to express phrases in local Fengxian dialect that are more in use among local seniors than youth. Lu Yanqing, a visitor from a neighboring area, was impressed by the work. It reminded her of her childhood when older family members would still talk with her in their dialect. "A feeling of familiarity and warmth immediately washed over me the moment I saw the work. I would love to bring my son here and tell him what life was like when I was young and what country folk culture actually is and conveys," Lu told Xiaoxiang Morning Post.

Cheng said, "We passionately believe that everyone, as a part of nature, longs to gather in nature. To have people enjoying, learning about and creating art in the village demonstrates the power of both the countryside and art," he added.

State-of-the-art

Many villages are using local cultural heritage to their advantage to attract both tourists and artists to visit, or even settle down, there.

Hongjiang Village in Guizhou Province in southwest China is home to many of the country's 56 ethnic groups, including the Bouyei, Shui and Miao. It's also home to traditional dwellings and cultural heritage practices such as tie-dyeing, a handicraft rendering colors extracted from plants as patterns onto handwoven white cloth or blended cotton-flax fabric.

This used to be a quiet place, as many of its residents had sought employment in large cities and left behind nothing but empty houses. In 2016, Ma Lihua, the then new First Secretary of the village branch of the Communist Party of China, noticed the village's art potential and began to guide locals in renovating its buildings. She also attended a myriad of art activities across China to meet artists and introduce them to Hongjiang.

Seven years later, more than 100 artists now live in the village to draw inspiration from its surrounding natural scenery and local characteristics for their art works. They've also set up studios that cater to the needs of art aficionados nationwide as well as host art classes for primary and middle school students during school holidays.

Events like exhibitions, hands-on activities for visitors to delve into intangible cultural heritage crafts, music shows, as well as bonfire parties, have made Hongjiang a must-visit for people traveling to Guizhou.

"Through the lenses of photographers and the strokes of artists' paintbrushes, the works capture the beauty of the Hongjiang, allowing us to discover the beauty of our own hometown and enrich our lives with all the goings-on," a local villager called Meng Shuli said.

Art, in a way, has contributed to villagers' income increase. Before 2016, their average annual per-capita disposable income was under 2,000 yuan ($290); today's number is twentyfold that.

Despite the booming art scene, rapid, or even rushed, commercialization can lead to problems. Ma is concerned that increases in rent following the area's economic development will force artists to leave.

Li Xiangming, a painter who migrated from Beijing to Hongjiang years ago, expressed his hopes that the village won't lose its distinct features and become a dull scenic spot.

"We must consider the root causes of rural underdevelopment in China... Is becoming a tourist attraction really the only or best way to develop for all rural areas?" Li Xiangming wondered in an interview with China Youth Daily.

(Print Edition Title: A Peachy Picture)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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