Village embraces culture leading to tourism boom

Since 2014, the tourism industry in Zhongxing village has been booming, improving its citizens' lives.

Zhongxing, a distinctive village with ethnic minority elements in Xi'an district of Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province, has a population of 1,359, most of which are people of Korean ethnic group.

However, in the past, about 90 percent of the villages went to work outside the of village.

Taking advantage of the ethnic characteristics and abundant natural resources, the village decided to focus on tourism products featuring ethnic group cultural experiences.

They established extensive connections with villagers who had success in business and entrepreneurship outside the village and encouraged them to return home to start businesses, which can benefit their hometown and drive economic prosperity.

In 2014, Han Chunshan, a villager who has developed his business in Beijing for many years, decided to invest 20 million yuan in the construction of a Korean ethnic folk park in the village.

Following after Han, another 43 villagers returned home to start their business, bringing to the village more energy and vitality.

Furthermore, with government support, the village has completed the renovation of the village's appearance, building over 50 projects including skiing facilities, automobile resorts, tent campsites and greenhouse picking areas.

They have also renovated over 30 high-quality homestays and more than 20 characteristic restaurants.

Additionally, they have built facilities such as a New Year's painting gallery and a folk art collection museum, as well as having constructed and renovated 320 Korean-style houses.

Now, tourists can easily identify distinct ethnic elements in the architecture, clothing and performances during their trip in the village.

Tourists also have opportunities to taste various traditional Korean cuisine, such as glutinous rice cakes.

Over the past years, the village has been honored with lots of titles such as China's Ethnic Minority Characteristic Village, the National Key Village for Rural Tourism, the National Forest Village, Heilongjiang Province Rural Tourism Demonstration Point and the Heilongjiang Provincial Civilized Village.