Farmers in Boye County make a living from the scenery, and good scenery brings good income

A few days ago, a reporter walked into the Qiangmushe Agricultural Ecological Park in Baita Village, Boye County, Hebei Province, and saw green trees surrounding the area and lush greenery everywhere. In the greenhouses, colorful tomatoes, Qilin watermelons, and Summer Black grapes hung on the vines. The park also offers horseback riding, collecting free-range eggs, fishing, barbecuing, and other activities, attracting residents from Baoding and surrounding counties to come for picking and sightseeing.

The Qiangmushe Agricultural Ecological Park covers more than 800 mu and has more than 80 warm greenhouses. Since its establishment in 2012, it mainly produced vegetables such as chives and cucumbers, with average economic returns. In 2015, the planting base began to change its mode and adjust its structure, transforming from traditional agriculture to leisure and sightseeing agriculture, and from single-crop vegetable planting to leisure tourism and ecological picking. Through three-dimensional planting, the base embarked on the path of leisure sightseeing and tourist picking. In order to grow green, pollution-free vegetables and fruits with good taste, the base entirely uses farmyard manure and organic fertilizer; in order for vegetables and fruits to catch the “season,” the park carries out three-dimensional planting in greenhouses, cold sheds, and open fields, so that residents can have fresh vegetables to eat every day and can pick fruits in all four seasons. In spring, the base has strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, and green cabbage; in summer, it has colorful tomatoes, Qilin watermelons, and Summer Black grapes; in autumn, it has Chinese yam, Ya pears, and grapes; in winter, it has strawberries and chives. To strengthen the safety of fruit and vegetable products from farmland to table, the ecological park prohibits the use of highly toxic and high-residue pesticides, and establishes detailed ledger records and corresponding traceability files for fruit and vegetable quality and safety. Han Zhaohui, the person in charge of the base, introduced that the ecological park integrates green fruit and vegetable production, sightseeing and picking, and leisure tourism, and has now become a good place for residents of Baoding and surrounding Boye to relax on holidays and experience the pleasures of rural life. Selling things in the traditional sense now finds it very difficult to attract consumers, and the consumption experience is becoming more and more important. His ecological park is transforming from selling “products” to selling “experiences” and selling “scenery.” After its launch, it was not only deeply welcomed by rural tourism enthusiasts, but also boosted the sales of farm meals and agricultural and sideline products.

In Boye County, Qiangmushe is not the only one “making a living from the scenery.” At present, the county has built many ecological picking parks, including the Shawo Thousand-Year Ancient Pear Orchard, the Da Beihe Beautiful Countryside Sightseeing Park, and the Beiyi, Haoweizi, and Daying Facility Agriculture Parks. While picking, tourists can also enjoy the rural scenery of Boye County, and at the same time, local specialties such as Ya pears and Chinese yam have greatly increased in value. In recent years, while advancing the construction of beautiful villages, Boye County has laid out its tourism industry for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, actively implemented all-for-one tourism development, and relied on the “tourism plus” model to build a rural tourism economy centered on fruit and vegetable picking and integrating entertainment, leisure, vacation, dining, and fitness. It has taken the lead in the Baonan Plain area in creating a distinctive brand of “beautiful countryside ecological tourism,” becoming a new highlight of ecological leisure tourism in Baoding City. In August 2015, the county was awarded the title of “Hebei Province Leisure Agriculture and Rural Tourism Demonstration County.” At present, the county has built various agricultural industry picking parks featuring Ya pears, Chinese yam, edible fungi, and other specialties. The pear blossom festival held every spring and the autumn picking festival can attract more than 500,000 tourist visits each year. There are more than 2,000 people employed in leisure agriculture and rural tourism, and in 2015 the county's total tourism revenue exceeded 100 million yuan.

Li Donghui, our reporter Feng Lei