Report reveals blooms of beautiful countryside

Laoshan

Laoshan district in Qingdao, Shandong province, has used integrated urban-rural planning to transform once underdeveloped coastal and mountain villages into cleaner, wealthier communities supported by tourism, tea, fruit and modern services.

Thirty years ago, many villages in the district sustained themselves on traditional farming, fishing and quarrying. Infrastructure was weak, and domestic sewage and waste were often discharged without effective treatment. Today, Laoshan has built a model that extends urban public services into rural areas while protecting its mountain and coastal ecology.

The district, with 95.7 kilometers of coastline and a natural coastline retention rate of 73.7 percent, began rural water supply, environmental improvement and road projects in 2005. It launched integrated urban-rural sanitation in 2014 and rural sewage treatment in 2018.

From 2019 to 2025, Laoshan built more than 1,600 km of sewage pipelines, 42 sewage treatment stations and 62 pumping stations, achieving countywide rural sewage treatment. Rural black and odorous water bodies have been cleared, while harmless treatment and classified collection of rural household waste have both reached 100 percent.

The district has also promoted circular agriculture. Since 2010, organic fertilizers and physical pest-control equipment have been distributed to more than 19,000 tea and fruit growers, covering over 2,000 hectares. In the past three years, soil organic matter in farmland rose by 34 percent, while chemical fertilizer and pesticide use fell by 6 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Green industries have brought visible income gains. In the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, the average collective income of villages reached 8.82 million yuan ($1.3 million), and 80 percent of villages earned more than 1 million yuan. Rural residents' per capita disposable income rose from 31,000 yuan in 2022 to 36,000 yuan in 2025.