Workers pick roses at the plantation base of Ningxia Jiahe Floral Ecological Agricultural Co Ltd in Majiawan village, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, in June. [Photo/China Daily]
Experience-based rural getaways let city folk shake off their daily pressures, drive growth
With experience-based industrial tourism booming, Majiawan village in Shizuishan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, is setting a good example of realizing the goal of rural xiaokang, or moderate prosperity.
The tiny village, with a total area of 6.25 square kilometers, is home to 375 families, or 1,185 residents.
In just four years, the village's annual collective income achieved a more than tenfold increase.
Wang Zhanbing, village Party chief, said: "In 2018, we established a tourism area in the village. Taking advantage of experience-based industrial tourism, Majiawan has achieved a quantum leap in economic development."
The tourism location, Daditianxiang Scenic Area, is a grade three-A tourism destination. With an investment of 43.36 million yuan ($6.05 million), it includes a rose-processing industrial park, farmhouses, an agricultural product processing industrial zone and other related facilities. Currently, the annual revenue of the tourism area stands at around 11 million yuan, creating around 5,000 jobs every year.
Du Xiaoli is a sales manager at Ningxia Jiahe Floral Ecological Agricultural Co Ltd in the Daditianxiang Scenic Area. She said that the rose facility, established by the company, attracts over 100,000 visitors every year.
"Tourists living nearby, including in Yinchuan, Wuzhong and Qingtongxia, visit our rose-processing plant during weekends and festivals. They gather roses, bake rose flower cakes and make rose floral water and rose jam. Both adults and kids enjoy themselves a lot," Du said.
Specifically, she said baking rose flower cakes is the most popular experience-based tour program in the rose industrial park.
"It's a form of entertainment for both children and adults. We invite tutors to teach visitors how to bake rose flower cakes. People enjoy themselves during the process. After the classes, they are able to take their rose flower cakes back home," Du added.
According to the company, which was founded in 2017, the current plantation base has reached 1,600 mu (106.67 hectares), and its annual output value stands at 12 million yuan. It has developed into a green food production company integrating rose plantation, processing, science research and leisure tourism.
Yue Pengxiu, founder and chairman of Shizuishan Rural Food Co Ltd, established a rural vinegar culture sightseeing zone within Daditianxiang Scenic Area. Yue said that the vinegar culture sightseeing zone illustrates the craft of vinegar making, and demonstrates vinegar culture as a local intangible heritage.
"Many of our visitors noted that they and their families had consumed vinegar for generations. But none of them were aware of how vinegar is made, and the differences between vinegar and soy sauce. Now, the country is encouraging the public to carry forward intangible culture. After visiting our vinegar culture sightseeing zone, tourists think the craft of vinegar making is an eye-opener, and have gained a deeper understanding of traditional vinegar brewing," Yue said.
The company said the sightseeing zone was opened to the public in 2021. Currently, annual visits stand at around 20,000, and revenue has been climbing.