Whether it be for bike-riding, fruit-picking, or simply enjoying the natural scenery beneath the vivid blue sky, rural tourism sites in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province are welcoming a growing number of city-dwellers as the domestic COVID-19 situation continues to improve.

April is the best season to go on a spring outing and experience nature. More and more people are choosing to travel to the countryside to breathe in the fresh air and experience rural life.

A visitor shows off the tomatoes she picked at a vegetable greenhouse in Pingdu, a county-level city in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/dailyqd.com]

According to the Qingdao bureau of agriculture and rural affairs, Qingdao is home to 1,039 agricultural tourism operators, which receive about 6.69 million tourists annually, generating about 16 billion yuan ($2.27 billion) in revenue.

Agricultural and rural tourism have become a means to expand the rural consumer market and increase opportunities for local farmers to start businesses, local officials said, as about 68,000 rural households have benefited from the tourism.

A cucumber-picking garden in Pingdu, Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/dailyqd.com]