Haidong’s rural revitalization bolstered by cultural tourism

On August 7, Qinghai Silk Road Flower Art Festival and Hehuang Culture and Art Festival was held in Haidong City, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, according to the Publicity Department of CPC Haidong Municipal Committee.

In recent years, Haidong made efforts to promote the protection, inheritance, and utilization of Hehuang Culture to fuel the high-quality development of the cultural tourism industry.

Lyu Liuyuejie, a resident of Banyan village of Huzhu Tu autonomous county in Haidong City, started learning Panxiu, a type of embroidery with Tu characteristics, when she was about 10 years old.

Panxiu, a national intangible cultural heritage since 2006, is a unique traditional ethnic art of the Tu people, with over 1,000 years of history.

“My family used to rely on farming to make a living. We never managed to make much money from it,” said Lyu. Back in 2015, 732 locals of more than 1,400 in total led relatively poor lives in the village, home to the traditional Tu tribe.

But since 2016, the village launched a poverty-relief project and started to develop eight distinctive industries at the same time, including Panxiu, Qingke barley wine, rural tourism and farm stay.

“It’s an excellent job for us, since we can do what we usually do and take care of our family,” said Lyu. She never imagined she could make at least 30,000 yuan a year from her embroidery.

Ma Youcai, 58, has witnessed the improvement, saying his grandchildren have easier access to primary school and there are more visitors from neighboring regions.

“Our catering services, mainly serving visitors our local cuisine, have also increased our income,” Ma said. He said that the local winemaking tradition has also been expanded from homes to mass production, with some factories built near the village selling wine online.

At the end of 2021, the per capita annual income reached 12,300 yuan and the collective income of the village reached more than 1.45 million yuan. Banyan village gradually won itself a reputation of “village of affluence”.

Members of the village receive annual subsidies to help with education and elderly care. Many villagers found jobs in tourism. “Our lives continue to improve every day,” Ma said.

Source: The Publicity Department of CPC Haidong Municipal Committee