People punt bamboo rafts on a river in Hebei village, Niangziguan town in Pingding county. [Photo/Yangquan Evening News]

Pingding county, administered by the city of Yangquan in North China's Shanxi province, was recently rated as a demonstration county for the continued protection and utilization of traditional villages in 2022.

The evaluation was given by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development, to explore more effective methods and paths for their conservation and use.

A panoramic view of Hebei village in Pingding county [Photo/Yangquan Evening News]

Under the program, the Ministry of Finance will give fixed rewards and subsidies to the demonstration counties, which will get benchmark subsidies for the eastern, central and western demonstration counties of 30 million yuan ($4.72 million), 40 million yuan and 50 million yuan, respectively.

At the same time, according to the number of traditional villages that are in the counties, a corresponding reward and subsidy coefficient will be given.

The subsidy coefficients of demonstration counties with 5-9, 10-19 and 20 or more traditional villages are 1, 1.25 and 1.5, respectively. The subsidy fund for each demonstration county is the corresponding subsidy benchmark, multiplied by the subsidy coefficient.

Waterwheels in Hebei village [Photo/Yangquan Evening News]

Pingding county has 18 traditional villages under its protection. Apart from Pingding, Pingyao county in the province was also rated as a demonstration county this year.