Handicrafts made by farmers in Guangling county are popular with tourists. [Photo by Li Zhaomin for China Daily]

Another village that gained support from provincial authorities for tourism-based poverty reduction is Qiaoshang in Huguan county.

This ancient village has a number of old temples, opera stages, residences and bridges. Located in the heart of the Taihang Mountains and featuring natural attractions like a grand gorge with flowing water and dense forests, the village has great potential to become a new destination for sightseeing and relaxation.

However, poor road connectivity and public infrastructure are major challenges to tourism development in the village.

To help tackle these challenges, the Shanxi Culture and Tourism Department invested about 6 million yuan in building roads, water supply facilities, parking lots and public toilets in the village.

"With such public facilities in place, Qiaoshang is now on the fast track of tourism development," said Shi Zhenya, a Shanxi Culture and Tourism Department official who is responsible for tourism-aided poverty reduction in the village.

The official said the public infrastructure also includes telecommunications like mobile telecom base stations and Wi-Fi.

"Accessibility to the internet not only offers convenience to tourists but also helps change the lifestyle of locals for the better," Shi said.

The official said the provincial tourism authorities have also arranged a number of training sessions for local officials and tourism-related business operators. This equips them with the latest management skills and market information for growing the tourism industry in the village.

According to the department, Shanxi has selected 300 villages as demonstrative areas for tourism-aided poverty reduction since 2018.

During the past two years, each of these 300 villages received about 36,000 visits annually on average. The annual tourism revenue of the villages totaled 340 million yuan, according to Wang Aiqin, chief of the Shanxi Culture and Tourism Department.

She added that a total of 181,200 rural residents in Shanxi had been lifted out of poverty by developing tourism-related businesses.

Li Yali contributed to this story.