A bird's-eye view of Beizhang village in Tai'an, Shandong province. The walls in the village are covered with paintings depicting beautiful countryside images. [Photo/WeChat account: SDTXTA]

In recent years, Beizhang village in Tai'an has been stepping up efforts to develop itself into a rural tourism complex that consists of eco-tourism, cultural tourism, high-end homestays, and special catering.

Aiming to build a brand called Huatian (flower field) Beizhang to attract more visitors, the village invited art students to paint beautiful countryside images on walls totaling a combined area of 3,000 square meters in the village.

The village has also developed fine homestays and other entertainment facilities to attract visitors to stay and consume. To date, the village is home to one cafeteria, eight fine homestays, and four countryside guest houses, which have helped boost locals' incomes.

In addition, the village has been bolstering its efforts to develop village industries and companies, such as establishing flower gardens and fruit processing plants to offer jobs to locals, which has increased the average annual income of locals by 12 to 13 percent.

After years of development, Beizhang village now offers visitors activities like flower and fruit picking, and sightseeing.

"The village plans to promote itself online and encourages more involvement from locals to create a brand with Beizhang characteristics in order to build the village into a demonstration area of rural vitalization in Shandong province," said Wang Peiyong, Party secretary of the village.