New tourism programs are under way.

"We'll roll out more interactive fun programs in the park for parents and children alike," Shi says.

A new folk culture street featuring local families' rules and history will open by the end of 2020, according to the senior official.

New homestays are also under construction and will open to the public soon.

Improving the environment has kept drawing more tourists, from not just Shanxi but neighboring provinces too, according to the village.

Taolingou received 800,000 traveler visits in 2019, up more than 30 percent compared to 2018.

Shi expects the number to pass 1 million in 2020, since outbound tourism is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This will partly help domestic travel to prevail.

Rising tourism and an improving living environment has brought positive changes to locals' lives.

"We then called upon local residents to offer tourism services, such as homemade cuisines for visitors, which has helped to raise local income," Shi says.

Now, about 100 locals are engaged in tourism services.

Shi Hengsheng had been a coal-mining worker until 2001.

"Everything was manual, from underground to above ground," the 70-year-old says.

"The working conditions were terrible. We had to work amid coal dust, gas and water dripping down overhead."

Despite the hardship of the job, it earned him only 5,000 yuan a year in 2000.

After the local government switched its focus to tourism development in 2001, Shi Hengsheng began to plant peach trees at his farm, where he had grown corn and grains.

"Before peach trees, the crop was only good for feeding my family and brought practically no income," Shi Hengsheng said.

The local government bought peach tree seedlings for Shi Hengsheng and convinced him that they would produce more income. He agreed to try.

The village authority then invited agricultural experts to teach him how to take care of the trees.

Over the years, Shi Hengsheng has grown more than 100 peach trees. They have earned him and his wife more than 8,000 yuan a year in fruit sales alone.

His family can also make extra money when tourists come to pick fruits at his farm.

"Life is much more easier than before and so is the money," Shi Hengsheng says. He added that he and his wife also receive a monthly pension from the village.

Now, he usually only has to fertilize, plow and weed his plantation during the first half of the year and can relax for the second half.

"Now that the surrounding environment is getting better, I can simply enjoy walking and taking a look around whenever I have time," Shi Hengsheng says.