Tourist attraction boosts Henan village's economy

Shankou village, in the Wulongkou township in Jiyuan, Henan province, has made great progress toward its goal of building a scenic countryside while boosting its economy, the village's Party chief said.

The village, on the border of Shanxi and Henan provinces, has the Wulongkou Scenic Zone, which has a tourist-attraction rating of 4A - the second-highest.

The per capita net income for the villagers last year was 22,026 yuan ($3,550), ranking eighth among all villages in Jiyuan, thanks to its booming tourism industry.

Wang Xiaofei, Party chief of Wulongkou township, said great potential exists for cooperation between the village and the Wulongkou Scenic Zone.

The village should focus on the development of farm-based tourism in the near future, Wang said.

Dang Zhuanxiang, Party chief of Shankou village, agreed, and said the village plans to build a comprehensive service center that features a shopping street, farm-based tourism services and a parking lot.

The parking lot has been put into operation and will provide the village with revenue of 700,000 yuan a year, Dang said. The 200-meter shopping street is expected to increase the residents' annual income by 1.5 million yuan, he added.

The village has also invested more than 3 million yuan in building a 15,000-square-meter garden that connects the village with the scenic zone, Dang said.

The Wulongkou township government has invested nearly 10 million yuan in the past three years to afforest the village, renovate its sewage network and build garbage transfer stations.

With the support of the township government, the village planted more than 1,000 landscape trees and built a 1,000-meter corridor covered with local wild grape vines this year, which improved the environment and is also expected to increase local residents' incomes.

The village invested 310,000 yuan in planting the grape vines and allocated the plants to 40 nearby households, Dang said. Each household is expected to increase its income by at least 8,000 yuan by harvesting the fruit in three years, he said.

Shankou will also invest 1.93 million yuan in a wastewater treatment project to tackle an issue that has troubled local residents for years, Dang said.

changfurong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/24/2015 page18)