Culture plays big role in boosting tourism and improving livelihoods

Elementary school students tour Tiangong Manor during a field trip in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, in March. (CHINA DAILY)

While the service industry has played an increasingly important role in rural vitalization, tourism featuring cultural characteristics has gained the attention of visitors, boosting the incomes of villagers.

Suburban Ningbo's Wandi village in Zhejiang province is an example of such a story.

With a registered population of 1,076 people, the village is home to nine museums and art exhibition halls, featuring intangible cultural heritage, flower arrangement art and qipaodresses.

The purpose is to add more cultural and educational features into agriculture-based sightseeing and rural experiences, said Wandi village's Party secretary Cai Guocheng.

Wuxia Culture and Art Center, which provides professional training for traditional Chinese musical instruments such as the guzhengand guqin, is a good example. Founded in Ningbo in 2011, the center was moved to Wandi in 2021.

According to the center's cofounder Zhao Binwuxia, one of the purposes of relocating to Wandi was to focus on cultural services and the complete industrial chain built in the small village.

Business results justify the decision to relocate, with students from different parts of Ningbo commuting to the center every week to attend classes, some driving 90 minutes to get there. The center, which has attracted students aged between 4 and 70, recently earned 3 million yuan ($410,000) in annual sales revenue, which was not affected during the pandemic, she said.

Another must-visit place for tourists to Wandi is Tiangong Manor, showcasing modern agricultural technologies. In 2021, 5.6 million yuan was invested to build a 7,200-square-meter smart glass greenhouse in the manor. Tropical fruits such as guava and papaya are grown in the greenhouse where tourists can experience fruit picking. The manor also has an indoor botanical garden where the temperature is kept at 28 C, the largest of its kind in Zhejiang, showcasing more than 400 species of plants.

Weng Liqun, founder of research program service provider To Be Natural, started providing research courses to children in Tiangong Manor in 2020. Many of their family clients, who live in urban Ningbo, have booked study programs for their children in Tiangong Manor more than once.

While children can get closer to nature and obtain more agricultural knowledge, Tiangong Manor has become a good choice for parents to get together and take some time off, she said.

Wandi attracted 370,000 visitors in the first three quarters of the year, bringing in 24 million yuan in tourism income.

The tertiary industry, including tourism, contributed 73 percent of Wandi's income in 2023. The collective net assets of Wandi reached 1.2 billion yuan last year, while its collective operating income amounted to 49.5 million yuan. Wandi villagers' disposable income per capita reached 76,500 yuan last year, while Ningbo's average was 71,700 yuan.