Leisure agriculture becomes a new highlight of China's rural economy
During the just-passed October Golden Week, tourists across the country headed to the countryside in an endless stream to admire the mountains, gaze at the waters, and seek out rural nostalgia. While experiencing the charm of the countryside, tourists all made sure to buy some local specialties to take home, and leisure agriculture brought farmers more income.
On October 11, the National Leisure Agriculture Experience Exchange Conference released this set of data: as of the end of 2013, the number of various leisure agriculture operators nationwide had exceeded 1.8 million, receiving 900 million tourist visits annually, with operating revenue of 270 billion yuan, benefiting 29 million farmers, and both the number of visitors received and operating revenue maintained an average annual growth rate of more than 15%. This year, in the first half alone, 500 million tourist visits were received, with operating revenue of 150 billion yuan, benefiting 30 million farmers. This shows that leisure agriculture in China has become a new growth point of the rural economy, with development showing a "blowout" trend, and is a sunrise industry with enormous development potential.
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"International Slow City" -- Yaxi Town in Gaochun District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China welcomed a large number of tourists during the October holiday. Here, people not only took in the unique rural scenery but also fully savored the delicious Gucheng Lake crabs. As the fame of "Yaxi International Slow City" grows, the villagers' incomes have grown higher and higher. Four years ago, villager Rui Chunnniu of Dashan Village and his wife were farming 5 mu of rice paddies, earning about a thousand yuan a year. In 2011, with the support of the town government, he built the Chunnniu Farmhouse Restaurant and Chunnniu Inn. "Now I earn at least 200,000 yuan a year, and my son and daughter-in-law who worked in Changzhou have come back to work with us too!" Teasing his grandson in his arms, Uncle Chunnniu's face was beaming with joy.
"Since reform and opening up, leisure agriculture in China has gone through the historical stages of budding, starting up and all-round development. After entering the new century, diversified types of leisure agriculture represented by farmhouse restaurants, folk-custom villages, leisure farms and leisure granges have developed in competition with one another, forming a sound momentum of 'faster development, optimized layout, improved quality and expanded fields.'"
So judged Yang Shaopin, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Huanglongxian Village in Jiangning District, Nanjing, China is a tea culture tourism village, surrounded by rolling mountains and lively waters, with the village nestled among mountains, water, tea and bamboo, white walls, gray tiles and horse-head walls, rustic village dwellings, quiet and leisurely. Upon entering the village entrance, one sees an antique-style tea culture museum; on the open space by the village pond, the Huanglong Grand Teahouse has been built, and at peak times 30,000 people a day drink tea here. On the streets on both sides of the bluestone-paved road, tea houses and shops selling specialties such as gourd pyrography and Yuhua stones stand row upon row. The villagers here all have tea gardens; for more than 2 months around Qingming each year they are busy, and when free they run their own tea houses and local specialty shops, selling out their agricultural products just by waiting for customers to come to their doors. A young woman surnamed Xu in her twenties was busy greeting customers buying Yuhua stones: "I used to work elsewhere, but seeing how well my hometown has developed, I came back to run a specialty shop, be my own boss, take things easy, earn a decent income, and still be able to look after things at home. Many of my classmates have come back to work too."
Like Uncle Chunnniu and Miss Xu, farmers whose lives have "shot up" step by step by running farmhouse restaurants, building inns and selling local specialties are numerous in Nanjing and indeed throughout Jiangsu. "Last year, leisure and sightseeing agriculture in Jiangsu received 72 million tourist visits, with comprehensive revenue exceeding 23 billion yuan," introduced Zhang Jianyong, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Agriculture. Not only Jiangsu; leisure agriculture in other provinces has also achieved a great deal. "Last year, sales revenue of leisure agriculture agricultural and sideline products in Zhejiang Province was 4.86 billion yuan, more than 80% of leisure agriculture was operated by farmers as the main body, and per capita income reached 25,000 yuan, 50% more than the provincial average farmer income." Speaking of leisure agriculture boosting farmer incomes, Wang Jianyue, chief agronomist of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Agriculture, was very proud. Cheng Guanhuai, deputy director of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Agriculture, was not to be outdone: "Now Jiangxi's leisure agriculture has more than 700,000 employees, farmers account for 90%, and their income is 30% higher than that of ordinary farmers."
Who says rural leisure cannot be "high-end, elegant and classy"? The seemingly simple "eating, drinking, playing and having fun" also has much to it. In order to achieve the multiple goals of whetting the appetite, clearing the lungs, being fun, pleasing the eye and adding interest, leisure agriculture integrates with culture, science and technology, ecology and tourism, expands into many fields such as wedding celebrations, healthcare, wellness and science popularization, connects the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and greatly raises the added value of agriculture. "It can be said that leisure agriculture has activated a region, given rise to a batch of industries, enriched a group of ordinary people and built a paradise, turning agriculture into a happy and efficient industry, the countryside into a beautiful and harmonious homeland, and farmers into a group living prosperous and dignified lives," further explained Zong Jinyao, director of the Township Enterprise Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture.
It is estimated that by 2020, 600 million farmers will still remain in the countryside, and developing leisure agriculture on the spot is one of the ways for farmers to increase their incomes. With a few people, a few rooms, a few tables and a few beds, one can run a farmhouse restaurant, build an inn and sell local specialties, and even be one's own boss. Even city people envy such a life.