"Beautiful Economy" Brings Prosperity to Villagers (Visiting the Frontline of the Million Project) Breeze | Hengshanwu Village | Economy

Hengshanwu Village, Lingfeng Street, Anji County, Zhejiang Province, has a vast expanse of bamboo and a gentle breeze, making the coolness of summer particularly pleasant.

Entering the homestay "A Zhong's Home", the greenery is everywhere, the fragrance of flowers is everywhere, and the decoration is exquisite and warm. Looking at the guests resting on the lawn, Lan Qingxia, the owner of a homestay born in 1995, sighed, "My family used to be the most remote household in the village. Look, now it's the busiest one. On holidays, it's often hard to find a room."

From the "muddy village" of the past to the national level beautiful and livable demonstration village and the national key rural tourism village, the villagers of Hengshanwu Village have expressed their admiration for the beautiful transformation of their hometown.

"The biggest change brought about by the 'Ten Million Project' is the cohesion of people's hearts. When people are united, their energy is strong, and the road to common prosperity is getting wider and wider," said Cai Mingfu, Secretary of the Party Branch of Hengshanwu Village.

Recalling the past, Cai Mingfu recounted, "In the past, the village was all paved with yellow earth roads. When it rained, the yellow earth turned into mud, and when I returned to the village, I had to carry a bicycle. Transportation was inconvenient, and the industry was single. When I first joined the village committee in 1998, the village collective earned less than 90000 yuan a year."

In 2003, taking advantage of the "Ten Million Project", Hengshanwu Village launched a major village renovation and construction campaign, hardening roads, demolishing illegal buildings, treating sewage, and improving the rural environment. The villagers tasted the sweetness and changed from "I want to do it" to "I want to do it", with high enthusiasm.

The "Ten Million Project" continues to upgrade, and the construction of Hengshanwu Village continues to accelerate. In 2008, the village built a provincial-level "Beautiful Rural Characteristic Boutique Village" and built a village kindergarten within 40 days; In 2015, the "Beautiful Rural Boutique Demonstration Village" was established, and various tasks were completed in just 8 months... A beautiful ecological and livable rural picture was slowly unfolding.

How can villagers become rich when the environment is beautiful?

"We are located in a bamboo town, and whether to develop bamboo processing or tourism was uncertain at that time," Cai Mingfu admitted. Village officials took village representatives on an inspection trip and were surprised to see that some rural homestays earn a monthly income of 100000 yuan per room. They were even more envious. Is it okay for Hengshanwu Village?

"The bamboo forest scenery in the village is not bad at all." "The surrounding Lingfeng Mountain scenic area and the rural Jiale Bi Park can attract tourists." "We must make up our minds to close the bamboo processing workshop." Every word you say, the villagers gradually formed a consensus: relying on the beautiful countryside, vigorously developing the "beautiful economy.".

Unified planning and high standard construction. The village invited designer Chen Gu back to their hometown and established the "Xiaoyi Half Day Village" homestay cluster. Strolling on the cobblestone road, one step at a time, themed homestays such as vacations and food have their own unique features. The library, coffee shop, and other business formats are all available. Visitors can experience tea stir frying or watch handicraft production, stealing half a day of leisure and lingering.

"We focus on differentiated development while respecting the original appearance of houses and surrounding environments, using local materials to create unique features. Currently, we have attracted 19 homestays to settle in, becoming popular check-in spots. Last year, 'Xiaoyi Half Day Village' received more than 350000 tourists. This year, during the May Day holiday, the daily turnover reached over 40000 yuan," said Chen Gu.

To enable villagers to share the benefits of development, the homestay cluster adopts a development model of "professional companies+streets+cooperatives+farmers". Huang Donghui, who is working hard in Shanghai, opened a private restaurant called "Huang Mama Family Banquet" in the village. With dedication and authentic taste, the restaurant produces an average annual output of 100000 yuan per chair; Ai Chen, a young entrepreneur who returned to her hometown, specializes in new Chinese clothing and handmade cloth shoes. Last year, her offline revenue exceeded 2 million yuan; Villager Jin Yufang received training and became a "butler" in a homestay, increasing her income by 54000 yuan per year

Less than 1 kilometer away from the homestay cluster, projects such as parent-child theme parks and art galleries have been completed one after another. Lan Qingxia said, "In the past, there was a bamboo mat factory at my doorstep, and the noise was loud and bustling, so I was afraid that tourists would not be able to stay in a stable place. Now that the factory is closed, there are more leisure projects, and the mountains are full of flowers, not to mention how beautiful they are!"

Nowadays, Hengshanwu Village focuses on the construction of rural tourism, with the improvement of rural level as the starting point. It enriches leisure elements such as "food, accommodation, tourism, shopping, and play", strengthens the extension of the industrial chain, and forms a new rural tourism format that integrates cultural leisure, rural vacation, leisure agriculture, and other diverse formats.

"Beautiful economy" brings prosperity to the villagers. In Hengshanwu Village, there are jobs in the fields, classes in the village, and money at the doorstep. In 2022, the entire village received 700000 tourists, with a tourism industry revenue of 108 million yuan, a collective economic operating income of 7.52 million yuan, and a per capita net income of 55045 yuan for farmers.

In Cai Mingfu's view, it is precisely because of the implementation of the "Ten Million Project" that Hengshanwu Village has undergone multiple transformations and found a suitable development path for itself.

"Now that Hengshanwu Village has gained fame, the next step is to turn 'traffic' into a larger 'retention', attract more tourists to stay, live more comfortably, and have more fun. We still have a lot to do." After answering the phone, Cai Mingfu went to prepare for a new project.