Rural tourism development urgently needs to dig deeper into cultural connotations

Leisure rural tourism urgently needs to add a cultural flavor. It is not enough to have mountains, water and flowers to call it a flower-viewing tour, to attract visitors, and to make them stay; it is also necessary to tap into the cultural value and cultural connotations behind it in order to increase overall appeal. For example, when visiting Wuyuan in Jiangxi, you can not only see the flowers, but also many folk things, such as ancient Huizhou-style ancestral halls, official residences, dwellings, covered bridges, pavilions and so on. Local folk performing arts such as Nuo dance and Hui opera are also very popular.

For a leisure village to be appealing, it also needs nostalgia. The original residents, farmland and water systems of a leisure village are like a nature reserve; they themselves are a kind of natural circulation system and a living cultural landscape heritage. In ancient villages, buildings and people are the core and soul here. These are all important carriers of nostalgia.

In the author's view, to increase the appeal of rural tourism, it might be good to do three things well.

First, deeply expand and tap into the connotations and extensions of rural tourism food. This requires using one's brain and making something of what lies "behind" farmhouse meals. Tofu ground at home in the mountains is delicious; if tofu culture can be expanded, it reflects the extended value of tofu. One farmhouse restaurant owner not only provided tofu for visitors to eat, but also had a bright idea and deeply tapped into the extended culture of tofu, building a mountain tofu culture museum, where visitors can experience grinding tofu in an antique-style courtyard and view exhibitions on the history of tofu, its production process and other related knowledge; a tofu culture festival was also held, showing visitors vegetable-juice tofu, black bean tofu and so on, and inviting visitors into the tofu-making room to visit and experience the tofu-making process, making the cultural flavor of farmhouse meals stronger and stronger.

Second, expand the folk culture connotations of rural tourism. A mountain has four seasons, and within ten li the weather differs; within ten li speech differs, and within ten li customs differ. Every place has its own unique folkways and customs, folk culture, as well as tangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. These cultural heritages, rooted in mountain villages and scattered among the mountains and countryside, are all cultural elements of rural leisure tourism that can be fully tapped and utilized. There is no fear of remoteness, desolation or shabbiness; what is feared is turning a blind eye to their historical and folk value. Deeply tap into and organize these folk resources, so that they are transformed into the cultural advantages, appeal advantages and operating advantages of rural tourism, enhance the cultural added value and competitiveness of rural tourism, and let visitors feel that they are living in a scenic area, immersed in culture, experiencing folk customs, and happy in leisure, never tiring of it and lingering on without wanting to leave.

Third, for rural tourism projects, what most needs to be reflected is differentiated operation and avoiding homogenization, otherwise visitors will ultimately be lost. Compared with cities, the uniqueness of rural tourism lies in its full "wild mountain flavor," its strong sense of courtyard and ecology, its prominent natural setting, and its highlighted landscape of mountains and waters. It should reflect as much as possible the tranquil and serene beauty of "empty mountains see no one, yet voices of people are heard." Without the natural and simple "farmhouse" characteristics, and once the "farm" flavor is lost, no one will go. Carrying forward the characteristics of the word "farm" is the development direction of rural leisure tourism.

Rural tourism in places such as Sansheng Township in Chengdu, Sichuan; Anji in Zhejiang; Huangshan in Anhui; and Panshan in Jixian, Tianjin, has already formed mature appeal models, starting from increasing visitors' farming experience and designing highly participatory projects, such as simple farm work and farm chores. Rural tourism should take "farm" as its root, "joy" as its soul, and "culture" as its way, and use culture to transform "farm"; combine eating with culture, playing with culture, education with culture, and joy with culture; deeply tap into local folk culture connotations and highlight wild mountain characteristics; and design cultural appeal projects with strong visitor participation. This is the essence and soul of developing various forms of rural tourism. It truly lets visitors fill their stomachs while also receiving cultural edification and joy.

In short, leisure rural tourism urgently needs to tap into "cultural depth." It is not only necessary to find ways to add cultural connotations and elements, but also even more necessary to open up a "deep tourism" model, attract visitors to slow down and stay, let rural culture and rural characteristics give tourists a rich aftertaste and feeling, and promote the accelerated revitalization and development of rural leisure tourism.