Ancient village in SW China's Sichuan sees prospering rural tourism

Rural tourism is booming in Xingfu Ancient Village, Danling county, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Home to 219 villagers, the ancient village dating back more than 200 years has six B&B hotels and over 10 agritainment facilities. The annual per capita net income of the villagers exceeds 40,000 yuan ($5,480).

Photo shows a view of Xingfu Ancient Village, Danling county, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo courtesy of Dan Xuan)

Nestled deep in the mountains, the village was once rarely known to the outside world due to a poor transportation infrastructure.

Gong Shaorong is a native of the village. According to Gong, young villagers worked outside the village in the past and rarely returned home.

Although the ancient village featuring traditional dwellings, ancient trees and other natural and cultural landscapes rose to fame thanks to a movie filmed there, it gradually lost vitality due to poor transportation, a weak economy and an aging population.

Things began to change in 2014 when Xingfu Ancient Village was listed as one of Sichuan's 13 pilot programs to upgrade the development of rural tourism between 2014 and 2016 for its unique resources.

"Developing rural tourism can lure villagers back and attract tourists from other places," said Jiang Liyan, director of the tourism development center of Danling county.

Xingfu Ancient Village launched a comprehensive tourism development project, including building roads and footpaths, renovating dwellings, improving landscape quality, and developing rural culture.

Seizing the opportunity, Gong rented his two-story building to the village's cooperative, which turned it into a B&B hotel. He also asked his grandson, who had a restaurant in the urban area, to run an agritainment facility in the village.

Visitors watch a folk custom performance in Xingfu Ancient Village, Danling county, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo courtesy of Dan Xuan)

In March 2016, Xingfu Ancient Village opened to the public. Gong served as a guide, explaining the history, customs, and culture of the ancient village to tourists. In only two months that year, Gong's family income exceeded 100,000 yuan.

"Villagers are the mainstay and soul of the ancient village," said Xu Jie, an official of Xingfu Ancient Village, adding that the village adopts a business model that features cooperation among the local government, companies and villagers. Villagers can obtain house rentals, incomes from their jobs, dividends from the cooperative, operating income, and income from the transfer of land-use rights.

Xingfu Ancient Village was listed as a traditional Chinese village and a national-level key village for rural tourism development, and was selected for the demonstration of the "one village, one product" project aimed at boosting local industrial development.

Photo shows artists performing in Xingfu Ancient Village, Danling county, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Cheng Ji)

In recent years, the village has received 1.8 million tourist visits, with its tourism revenue reaching about 220 million yuan. The per capita disposable income of villagers has increased from 11,000 yuan to over 40,000 yuan.

While carrying out protective development to avoid over-commercialization, Xingfu Ancient Village has created more consumption scenarios, held concerts, and combined study tours with folk customs.

Wu Yongshu, head of the publicity department of the CPC Danling county committee, said Xingfu Ancient Village will adopt a business model that integrates scenic areas, the village's cooperative and farmers to promote the sustainable development of its rural tourism.