Anyang, Henan develops eco-tourism to blaze a new trail to prosperity

Walking into the Dayun Modern Agricultural Sightseeing Park in Hanzhuang Town, Tangyin County, you are greeted by peach blossoms and rapeseed flowers in full bloom everywhere, surrounded by clear water, birdsong and fragrant flowers, while clean and tidy paths, evergreen plants full of greenery and one rural wooden cabin after another catch the eye.

The Dayun Modern Agricultural Sightseeing Park was established in 2013, interplanting fruit trees and growing forage grass on more than 5,000 mu of land transferred from farmers. Now the park has also adapted to local conditions and developed modern agriculture of "ecology + tourism".

Fu Yudong, the person in charge of the park, said: "While growing forage grass and interplanting fruit trees, we found a spring eye in the transferred land, which happened to form a peninsula. Combining this terrain and topography, last year we invested another 7.2 million yuan to build 17 wooden cabins and a comprehensive building, hoping to build around rural tourism an ecological sightseeing agricultural park integrating picking, accommodation, dining and leisure."

Chen Fuxiang, a villager from Xiyun Village in Hanzhuang Town who works in the park, told reporters: "The 6 mu of land in my family was transferred to the park. In the past, my family's land only grew wheat and corn, and after deducting labor and fertilizer costs, it simply did not make money. Now that it is transferred to the park, the land brings in 5,000 yuan a year, plus the 5,000 yuan monthly wages for me and my daughter-in-law, we have employment right at our doorstep and it does not affect taking care of the elderly and the children."

In recent years, relying on existing resources and industrial advantages, Hanzhuang Town has vigorously implemented the strategy of "overall planning for east and west, east mushrooms advancing west", focusing on "improving the image of the park and creating agricultural highlights", aiming to help farmers increase income, and vigorously developing modern urban leisure agriculture dominated by mushrooms, vegetables, forest and fruit. It has promoted the transformation of the town's modern agriculture toward scaled, intensive and industrialized development. To this end, the town issued and further improved policies for awards and subsidies for agricultural industrialization, giving heavy awards to modern agricultural demonstration parks that meet the requirements; established long-term cooperative relations with research institutions such as Henan Agricultural University and the Henan Edible Fungi Research Institute, and invited Henan Agricultural University to carry out scientific planning and design for the town's modern leisure sightseeing agriculture; the town government funded the hiring of agricultural professional and technical personnel from places such as Shouguang in Shandong and Yanling in Henan to be stationed in the town for long-term technical guidance and regular training to solve technical problems; and actively integrated resources, improved supporting facilities such as water, electricity and roads, and relieved the parks of worries. A series of preferential measures mobilized the enthusiasm and initiative of all sectors of society to participate in developing demonstration parks, drove the construction and development of a number of modern agricultural demonstration parks, and set off a boom in the development of modern urban leisure agriculture throughout the town.

In 2015, about 120,000 tourists visited the agricultural parks of Hanzhuang Town for tourism and leisure, driving an increase of 15 million yuan in income from tertiary service industries such as dining and commerce. The rapid development of ecological agricultural sightseeing parks has provided new space for rural tourism and increasing farmers' income.

At present, the town has a total of 33 agricultural demonstration parks, and the construction scale of 9 leading modern agriculture and forestry companies such as Binhe Farm, Dayun Agriculture, Sanhe Farm and Tanghewan has begun to show results; the town has transferred 25,000 mu of land, accounting for 49% of the town's total land area, with an average income of 6,700 yuan per mu; the town's total output value of modern leisure sightseeing agriculture is 167 million yuan, and more than 7,300 farmers have become agricultural workers in the parks, with an average annual income of 13,500 yuan.

Hou Zhijun, Party Secretary of Hanzhuang Town, said: "This year, Hanzhuang Town will further rely on resources such as rural green mountains and clear waters, pastoral scenery and local culture, promote the deep integration of agriculture and the tertiary industry, vigorously implement leisure agriculture and rural tourism projects, accelerate the development of new business forms such as leisure vacations, tourism and sightseeing, health and elderly care, creative agriculture and farming experiences, and strive to attract more city residents to come to Hanzhuang, understand Hanzhuang and fall in love with Hanzhuang."