A new pastoral complex built in Guojia village in the Sibaoshan sub-district in Zibo High-tech Zone – located in Zibo city, in East China's Shandong province – has sparked rural vitalization there.
The new facility combines agriculture, culture and tourism in a bid to boost the local economy.
Since the village is not far from downtown Zibo, it chose to develop a popular vegetable picking tour.
At its Xiaorun farm, built under the guidance of the local authorities, there are five high-temperature greenhouses – allowing visitors to pick fresh vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers for themselves.
It's estimated that the project will generate annual income of more than 200,000 yuan ($28,940). The farm also features over 2,000 head of poultry and livestock – including chickens, ducks, geese and sheep, to attract more children.
Plenty of juicy tomatoes are growing in the Xiaorun farm. [Photo/zbnews.net]
In addition, to fully utilize the 200 mu (about 13.3 hectares) of wheat fields in the village, the folks there developed a venture to make pure grain wine from wheat. In addition to selling the wine, visitors can learn about traditional brewing technology – while the dregs from the fermentation process are fed to the chickens.
The first production line at the Wanfu Winery began trial output in October last year and a new production line was built in February this year. After ramping up to full capacity, the annual output of pure grain wine is expected to reach 100,000 kilograms, which will generate about 300,000 yuan in extra revenue.
Moreover, the village also established an equestrian club, a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) embroidery hall, a folk kiln ancient pottery museum and a Buddha museum, among other things, to attract more tourists. It currently receives nearly 30,000 visits a year.
Visitors can experience horse riding in Guojia village. [Photo/zbnews.net]
Moving forwards, plans are for the village to invest 30 million yuan to build a popular science exhibition center that will offer mixed reality and virtual reality experiences for study tours.
