Internet helps drive rural revitalization in Xizang's Medog county

5G signals are now available in the county seat of Medog county, Nyingchi city, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, where new hotels, restaurants, shops, and supermarkets have mushroomed.

"We have built 13 5G base stations in the county, and plan to build 13 new ones this year to make 5G signals accessible to the county seat, towns and other key areas," said Xiao Junjie, manager of China Mobile's Medog branch.

Resident Gongsang Lamu picks tea leaves at Hezha village of Dexing township in Medog county, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, April 16, 2022.  (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

Internet accessibility has created better conditions for Medog's development. "Medog will follow the trend of selling farm produce and specialties online, improve the whole industrial chain, raise the added value of local farm produce and specialties, and sell them to the rest of the country," said Liu Beibei, deputy Party chief of the county.

Last year, urban per capita disposable income in the county reached 43,433 yuan ($6,122), while disposable income for rural residents averaged 17,035 yuan.

Xiao said the rapid recovery of tourism has encouraged a few companies to construct new high-standard hotels in Medog, which need more convenient and stable internet services. "The hotel industry grows rapidly in the county, which helps our company significantly expand the business," Xiao said.

Xiao's business growth is just a small fraction of the rapid development of the communication industry in Medog. All administrative villages in the county have been connected with fiber optic networks, and households with broadband internet services have increased from over 1,500 to 3,762.

Thanks to the internet, Huang Jiabin, a former official of Gelin village in Medog’s Baibung township, promoted the village by posting photos of its beautiful scenery on social media, while Ning Minfan, an artist from central China's Hunan Province, learned about the county from the internet.

In May 2022, Ning was enamored by Gelin village's landscape during his tour to Medog and got to know Huang and other officials in the village.

At the end of 2022, the officials invited Ning to visit the village again and help design and develop cultural and creative products, which contributed to the village's development.

"Without the internet, it is hard to imagine that a small remote village in Medog can attract wide attention," said Huang.

Most of the residents in Gelin village have also learned to buy various commodities online, including clothes, food, and electronic products.

Tsering Tsomo, a villager, said that in recent years online shopping has brought changes to local residents, who can buy fashionable clothes and food from various regions.

Tsering Tsomo has turned her home into a small shop and a B&B hotel, which brings her an annual income of between 10,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan.

"This year, an increasing number of people drive to Medog, and many of them find that Gelin village is a unique destination when they search for travel plans online. More and more tourists have come here, and B&B hotels have been in great demand," Tsering Tsomo said.

She added that she can also earn 40,000 to 50,000 yuan every year by selling red rice and tea leaves planted by her family through online channels.

Tsering Tsomo's agricultural products are sold under a regional public brand of agricultural products called "Linzhiyuan," which was created by the team of a pairing-up aid program dispatched by south China's Guangdong Province to Xizang to sell farm produce from Nyingchi city, including Medog county.

"We attract consumers to buy products in our brick-and-mortar store, and they will buy the products again on online platforms. At present, the proportion of online sales of Medog's agricultural products under the brand of 'Linzhiyuan' has been on the rise," said Miao Xiaoli, sales manager of Linzhiyuan store in Foshan city of Guangdong.

Villagers in Medog now advertise their products on social media and short video platforms. "Some villagers shoot videos to showcase the growing environment of agricultural products, while others livestream the production and harvesting processes," Miao said.

"The internet has made agricultural products from Medog known to more customers and boosted sales channels. We will further implement new sales models of agricultural products to create more channels to increase rural incomes," said Yu Jiachun, an official from Guangdong aiding Xizang, and deputy director of the bureau of agriculture and rural affairs of Medog.

"The changes brought by the internet to Medog serve as a vivid example of the vast rural areas empowered by the internet," said Cui Lili, executive director of the Institute of E-commerce at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.