Women pick tea leaves at a farm in Sijiao township, Xiaxian county. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Xiaxian, a county in the southwestern Shanxi city of Yuncheng, has renewed efforts to promote rural vitalization and improve its rural environment in recent years, aiming to bring concrete benefits to its residents.

Over the years, Xiaxian has leveraged its advantages in modern agriculture, wellness tourism and longstanding cultural resources to cultivate characteristic industries.

By continuously developing characteristic towns with differentiated urban and rural landscapes, Xiaxian has accumulated plenty of experience in promoting rural vitalization, providing a development path that can be duplicable throughout the province. Its practices were showcased at a provincial meeting on rural vitalization on Nov 27.

An excellent example is the Baisha River Wetland Park in southern Xiaxian. With the improvement of surrounding facilities, it has become an ecological haven that integrates ecological landscapes and cultural endowment.

Just two or three years ago, the area presented a completely different sight, with rugged rocks and flowing sewage. With a water course improvement project, and related projects for greening and developing a bronze sculpture cultural park, the Baisha River wetland has grown into one of the top scenic attractions in Xiaxian.

Centered around the Baisha River and relying on the hot spring resources of Yaotai Mountain and Chunyan Mountain, the county government is introducing social investment into local tourism development and the construction of a characteristic town for wellness tourism. There are plans for developing a hot spring resort town, a town of local culture and arts and a town of modern agriculture.

Like most rural areas in northern China, Xiaxian, which used to base its economy on agriculture, had suffered from widespread problems such as unauthorized construction, random littering of garbage, and untreated sewage, making it challenging to improve the living environment.

The township of Sijiao is a tourist destination in Xiaxian, thanks to being in the vicinity of a section of the Zhongtiao Mountains, which feature forest coverage of 88 percent that earning it the title of a "natural oxygen bar". However, the tourism industry's development had been hindered by the unpleasant environment for years.

At the end of October 2022, the township began to implement a living environment improvement project around the area of the township government, completing the clearance of illegal constructions along 1.8 kilometers of streets in eight days. Moreover, comprehensive renovation campaigns were carried out for 460 households along the tourist roads and more than 100 households in the town's commercial and residential areas.

Now, a cultural square covering an area of 12,000 square meters has been developed near the township government. Supporting facilities such as an ecological tourism exhibition center, a tourist service center, and a number of homestays and hotels have been constructed in Sijiao, providing tourists with diverse services such as shopping, dining and accommodation.

The Yinxili Resort – a complex of homestays – located in the Xigou village in Sijiao, for instance, offers well-designed and fully equipped comfortable suites. Outside the houses, with beautiful mountains, lush forests, the chirping of birds and the murmuring of creeks, it attracts visitors in pursuit of a sense of tranquility.

"The first phase of the resort had an investment of 30 million yuan ($4.2 million), with 58 rooms and 118 beds. The project also includes the Wangshan Organic Farm and a 300-sq-m restaurant," said Zhang Peng, an official at the village who takes charge of the resort's operation.

In addition to the Yinxili Resort, the planned Qingluo Town project – an establishment for modern farming with an investment of 80 million yuan – is underway in the village.

"Relying on homestay tourism, the village's specialty produce, such as chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, vegetables and medicinal herbs, is seeing booming development. The per capita annual income of villagers has surpassed 13,000 yuan," Zhang said.

Zhang Haiying contributed to this story.

liyou@chinadaily.com.cn