Chenzhou transforms its look and economy with lush plant life

When mentioning rapeseed flowers, Wuyuan used to be one of the the first places to come to most Chinese people's minds. But nowadays, a small village in Central China's Hunan province has been gaining fame for its fabulous flora.

The village is Xinfeng, 1 kilometer from Anren county in Chenzhou, a key area that was once part of the province's poverty alleviation project.

Walking through the village on a rainy day, the spacious roads, the newly built white-walled and grey -tiled houses, paddy fields, mountains and rivers look picturesque.

Rapeseed flowers bloom in their season, bathing the village in fiery gold.

Various farmhouse resorts feature the Paddy Field Park, a major project amid the provincial village testing field, employing more than 1,300 local villagers.

A nearby farmhouse hotel owner, Fan Zunhua, is considering putting 1 million yuan ($145,173) into a new building as an investment to expand his accommodation business.

"In the spring, tourists in my hotel can bask in the sight of a sea of rapeseed flowers once they open the window," Fan said.

"As long as I can provide good services and tasty dishes, the guests will come in an endless stream. I am the biggest beneficiary of the park being built up," he said.

The rice field, which had been farmed for generations, has now become a park. Xinfeng people were surprised to some extent.

The park has been built up as an agricultural wetland park for modern agricultural experimenting, science education, tourism and entertainment.

At present, the park is listed as one of the country's top-three best ornamental rapeseed flower destinations by CCTV and a "model of agricultural transformation", serving as an example for Chenzhou.

In 2015, the park received a total of 2.2 million tourists, with tourism revenue exceeding 1 billion yuan, increasing 122 households' per capita income by 2,000 yuan.

Recently, Hunan provincial government announced the assessment results for the 2015 Tourism Industry Economic Development, and Chenzhou took the top spot.

The city has topped the rankings for four years, thanks in large part to its rural tourism.

In 2015, Chenzhou admitted a total of 39.41 million tourists, a 17.9 percent increase year-on-year.

The city raked in 29.24 billion yuan in total tourism income, increasing by 21.6 percent year-on-year.

Enjoying a favorable geographical position, Chenzhou is surrounded by hills covered by lush greenery for a 62 percent forest coverage rate.

The area's picturesque scenery attracts hoards of tourists hoping to enjoy the "excellent" air quality.

Dongjiang Lake, the Rucheng Hot Spring and the Mangshan National Forest Park spread all over the city, giving the city plenty of opportunities to engage in rural tourism.

Li Liming, director of the tourism foreign affairs bureau of Chenzhou, said that under the guideline of the whole area's tourism, Chenzhou centers on ecological leisure products, transforming its sightseeing and leisure tours.

Recently, the provincial tourism bureau and Chenzhou government launched the first Beautiful Rural Tourism Culture Festival in Sanhe village, a typical ancient village in the city.

Chenzhou Party Chief Yi Pengfei said: "During the development boom of its local tourism, Chenzhou's uncultivated land holds great potential in rural tourism."

Chenzhou native Hu Xiangyang, who now lives in Shenzhen, was notified of the cultural festival through WeChat Moments (a popular Chinese social network) and drove 500 km to his hometown to experience the changes.

"I came (to Sanhe) for the first time, and the village is pretty intriguing with a new look and new scenery. It's a whole new feeling," Hu said. "I never realized Sanhe could provide such romantic and attractive scenery."

(China Daily 12/22/2016 page7)