High Quality Development Research Tour | "Rural Partners" Sing the "Revitalization Song" of Shanxiang in Jiashan Concert Hall | Demonstration Zone | Rural Areas
In the hot summer season, Longwan Lake in Sishui County, Jining, Shandong is surrounded by mountains and rippling with blue waves. Walking into Jiashantou Village in the Longwan Lake Rural Revitalization Demonstration Zone, following the winding rural path, the leisure valley art granary, Jiashan Music Hall, folk museum, and mountain residents' accommodation are scattered under the shade of green trees, attracting tourists to stop and take photos from time to time.
In just three or four years, from a poverty-stricken village in mountainous areas that no one cares about, to the current "popular check-in spot", Jiashantou Village has undergone earth shaking changes. "The arrival of Tian Bin, the founder of Shandong Eternal Valley Art Granary Cultural Development Co., Ltd., and his team has changed the development trajectory of the village." Yue Dulin, the secretary of the village party branch, told reporters that last year Jiashantou Village attracted more than 200000 tourists and the village's collective income reached 670000 yuan.
Exterior view of Jiashan Music Hall in Jiashantou Village, Longwanhu Rural Revitalization Demonstration Zone, Sishui County. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Feizuo
In the eyes of local villagers, Tian Bin also has an identity: a partner in rural revitalization. In the process of building a model for rural revitalization in Qilu, Shandong has put effort into attracting and utilizing talents, recruiting rural revitalization partners through various forms, promoting various types of talents such as entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, experts and scholars, and technical experts to "go to the countryside", and collaborating with village collectives in industries, projects, labor, and other aspects to jointly promote rural revitalization.
The Tian Bin team was the first group of partners recruited by Sishui County. After partnering with Jiashantou Village, they renovated the abandoned granaries and idle residential buildings in the village and successfully implemented 10 projects, including research and learning experiences, folk tourism, and cultural creativity.
"Here, we have the natural advantage of green mountains and clear waters. A group of like-minded partners, through sharing interests, risks, and forming a group for warmth, have made the scale of the business bigger and bigger." Tian Bin said that they have incubated more than 40 business models in the Longwan Lake Demonstration Zone, including Bianxiang Bianshi, Tao Cube, and Chuanshang Coffee.
Camping site in Dongzhongdu Village, Longwanhu Rural Revitalization Demonstration Zone. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Feizuo
The development of talents drives the development of rural areas. Rural revitalization partners promote the transformation of villages into scenic spots, rural households into guest rooms, and agricultural and sideline products into tourism commodities through direct investment, technological investment, creative cooperation, and intellectual support. This not only revitalizes idle rural resources but also drives local employment, achieving a win-win situation for partners, village collectives, and villagers, and stimulating the endogenous driving force of rural revitalization.
Walking from the entrance of Dahonggou Village in Dashu Town, Zoucheng City, high-end homestays, rural style halls, and master creative workshops have emerged one by one. A few years ago, Dahonggou Village introduced social capital as a partner, revitalizing the use of 70 idle homesteads in the village and more than 460 acres of inefficient idle land in the surrounding area, transforming the former "hollow village" into a rural innovation industrial park.
"We have introduced more than 160 partners through rent free, partnership management, profit sharing, and other methods to create dozens of projects such as Lingquan Spring Tea, Hanfu Restaurant, Fusheng Small Tavern, and Cafe." said Sun Weifei, General Manager of Dahonggou Tourism and Culture Development Co., Ltd. in Zoucheng City.
Scenery of Dahonggou Village, Dashu Town, Zoucheng City. Drone photos. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Feizuo
In order to accurately connect partners with villages, many places in Shandong have come up with clever tricks. In Yinan County, Linyi City, the local resources such as idle courtyards, factories, land, and labor that can be revitalized and utilized in the village, as well as advantageous factors such as funds, technology, products, and channels of enterprises, as well as the development needs of the village for enterprises and the resource needs of enterprises for the village, are sorted out to build a rural revitalization partner information platform.
"We have separately sorted out a list of 10125 supply factors and a list of 8588 demand intentions, and established a risk list to minimize the occurrence of risks through risk control." Sun Xiaoyan, member of the Standing Committee of the Yinan County Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department, said that the information platform has promoted efficient matching of supply and demand factors between village enterprises. At present, Yinan County's rural revitalization partners have reached 519 partnership project intentions, including 160 production projects and 247 under construction projects; It is expected to leverage social capital of 3.16 billion yuan, benefiting 49000 households and increasing village collective income by over 50 million yuan annually.
Shandong has also introduced supporting policies in areas such as land transfer, funding subsidies, guaranteed loans, talent introduction subsidies, and skill training to solve the practical difficulties of partners, enabling them to come, stay, and develop. In the Longwan Lake Demonstration Zone of Sishui County, the local human resources and social security department has provided free training for rural labor through methods such as "sending training to villages" to address the shortage of skilled workers in partner projects. Chen Yannan, a villager from Dongzhongdu Village in Shengshuiyu Town, is the beneficiary. After receiving training as a barista, she has started working at a coffee shop in front of her home.
While changing the appearance of rural areas, the continuous implementation of partner projects has also enabled many villagers in certain areas to achieve land transfer with "rent", housing investment with "stock capital", and employment in parks with "salary", embarking on the path of increasing income and becoming prosperous. After the four bungalows owned by Wang Yu'e, a villager from Dahonggou Village, were converted into homestays, she became the housekeeper of the homestays. "Now that I work at my doorstep, I can earn money for both my family and myself. I can earn two to three thousand yuan per month, and there will be dividends at the end of the year," she said.
