Heheng village – which is situated in the Jiangyan district of Taizhou city in East China's Jiangsu province – is known as the "Pearl of the Water Town" in China.
The village has been honored with a raft of environment awards. [Photo/WeChat account: jyrmzf]
Despite its modest population of only a few thousand residents, it has an annual income that exceeds hundreds of millions of dollars and top local officials are justly proud of that.
"Our village has fertile soil and pristine water quality, with Heheng rice standing out as a local specialty," said Pan Chunming, its Party secretary.
The rice – along with its pickled vegetables, crabs and poultry eggs – have received national green food certifications and have entered global markets.
In addition to the emphasis on cultivating specialty products, the village has made significant strides in developing rural industries such as eco-friendly grapes and melons in recent years.
Collaborating with research institutions, both locally and beyond the province, it has established research and practice plantations to boost the incomes of farmers and contribute to rural vitalization.
A journalist visits a grape plantation in the village to get a firsthand insight into how they do things there. [Photo/WeChat account: jyrmzf]
Alongside the focus on environmental development and green food production, the village has really driven its rural tourism economy forwards by leveraging its resources.
"Through homestays and leisure tourism ventures, the village has attracted more visitors to experience our offerings, as we aim to transition towards a fusion of ecological agriculture and rural tourism," Pan said.
The vision for Heheng village is to uphold the core principle of "ecology", to bolster its specialist industries, enhance agricultural standards and efficiency and to nurture a sustainable rural ecological habitat.