Research Tour of "Ten Million Projects" | This Millennium Ancient Village Has a Planetarium - Visits to Kaihua County Countryside at the Source of the Qiantang River | Parks | Qiantang River

Hangzhou, June 21 (Xinhua) - This millennium old village has a planetarium - a rural visit to Kaihua County, the source of the Qiantang River

Xinhua News Agency reporters Wei Donghua, Duan Jingjing, and Cui Li

Zhenzikeng Village, located in Changhong Township, Kaihua County, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, is a traditional village within the Qianjiangyuan National Park Nature Reserve. Zhenzikeng Village has four natural villages under its jurisdiction, among which Gaotiankeng Natural Village is the most well preserved original ecological ancient village.

Astronomers take photos of the starry sky in Gaotiankeng Village, Changhong Township, Kaihua County, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province.

This ancient village, which is well-known among astronomy enthusiasts, is hidden on a high mountain terrace at an altitude of 800 meters. Local village officials said that Gaotiankeng Village has no light pollution, and the air is transparent, with a transparent sky and stargazing conditions comparable to the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. In 2023, this place was recognized by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation as the "China Dark Night Starry Sky Protection Area".

The first floor exhibition of the Kaihua Dark Night Park Planetarium is located in Gaotiankeng Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Duan Jingjing

The reporter recently walked into this remote mountain town, and the car took more than 60 turns on the winding mountain road to reach the top of the mountain. A dark night park planetarium stood out in front of him. In the two-story planetarium, cosmic wonders are presented in front of visitors. They can not only explore the starry sky with professional stargazing equipment, but also experience simulated spacecraft and space stations up close, learning about the brilliant civilization of ancient Chinese astronomy, the development process of modern astronomy and the aerospace industry.

There is a starry sky camping site next to the planetarium, and during the summer stargazing season, many people come over. "Looking up at the distance, it is a long lost and breathtaking starry sky." A member of the Hangzhou Astronomical Society has visited this place multiple times to observe the starry sky and sighed on social media.

However, there were also dilapidated scenes of uneven roads, littered houses, and sewage flowing across the river in Gaotiankeng Village. In 2003, Zhejiang Province proposed the "Thousand Village Demonstration and Ten Thousand Village Renovation", which ushered in a turning point in the improvement of rural living environment. The village has made great determination to focus on cleaning projects, implementing river improvement, pollution interception and control, water management and landscaping, etc., achieving smooth river flow, clean water, clean banks, and beautiful scenery.

In June 2016, the pilot system of Qianjiangyuan National Park was officially approved, and Changhong Township was integrated into the pilot area. In the same year, Changhong Township also set development goals for Gaotiankeng Village, aiming to turn it into a science popularization and stargazing base in the dark night park. Dong Keli, a member of the Party Committee of Changhong Township, said that in recent years, while protecting the authenticity of the local ecosystem, the village has created a rural living space that integrates multiple industries such as sightseeing, learning tourism, and cultural arts.

The Starry Sky IP has begun to bring traffic to this remote mountain village. Yu Kunhua, who is in her 60s, used to be the only owner of a small shop in the village. Previously, there were few people in the village, and the business of small shops had always been relatively quiet. Now, with an increase in tourists, business is getting better and better, and homestays and farmhouses are also becoming popular.

The well preserved Yellow Mud House has now been transformed into a starry themed homestay cluster. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Duan Jingjing

In the bird's nest shaped village of Takata Keng, there are still 88 well preserved yellow mud houses. "These ancient dwellings are all excellent tourism resources," said Jiang Guoxing, the party branch secretary of Zhenzikeng Village. After planning, the village collective rented out more than 40 vacant yellow mud houses to create a starry sky themed homestay cluster, integrating more concepts related to stars, such as star streetlights, starry sky bookhouses, and starry sky markets. Through the cultural and tourism industry, it further drives the development of the village and increases the income of villagers.

"In accordance with the principle of restoring the old to the old and building the original site, we will carry out unified modernization of the interior of the houses without changing the overall architectural style of the ancient village, to improve living comfort." Dong Keli said that it is expected that by the end of this year, these yellow mud houses will "transform" into homestays, cafes, mountain tea houses, and swimming pools, transforming from decaying old houses into profitable assets.

With the solid progress of the "Ten Million Project", what has happened in Gaotiankeng Village is not only a butterfly change in the agricultural environment, but also a transformation in the local villagers' concepts. There is a pond in front of every household in Gaotiankeng Village, where wild groupers swim freely in the water. "There is no type of water that can sustain this grouper. However, these fish are prohibited from being caught." Chen Yingquan, a villager from Zhenzikeng Village, said that if anyone catches a fish, according to village regulations, they must invite the entire village to eat meat.

From mountains to water, from the starry sky to ancient houses, the millennium old village is now becoming a rural complex with scientific planning, unified design, unified operation, and symbiosis with villagers. Gaotiankeng Village has also been given a new name - "Starry High Field", where stars live on the high fields.