Small village in E China's Zhejiang thrives in bamboo flute industry

By leveraging its advantage in bamboo resources, Zijing village in east China's Zhejiang Province has turned bamboo flutes, a traditional Chinese instrument, into a prosperous industry.

Last year, the village in Zhongtai subdistrict, Yuhang district of Hangzhou, sold over 4.5 million bamboo flutes, with the entire industry chain generating over 350 million yuan ($47.8 million) in revenue.

A bamboo flute experience center recently opened to the public in the village, attracting throngs of visitors.

Photo shows a bamboo flute experience center in Zijing village, Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo/Xinhua)

"We are gradually shifting from selling 'bamboo flute products' to selling 'cultural products relevant to bamboo flutes,' further promoting the development of the bamboo flute industry," said Bao Mingyuan, Party chief of Zijing village.

Bao Mingyuan added that the village has promoted the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. During this year’s summer vacation, the village received over 8,000 tourist visits and more than 130 study tour groups, with the per capita consumption of them exceeding 200 yuan.

"The healthy development of the village's bamboo flute industry is inseparable from the guidance and services of the Zhongtai subdistrict and primary-level Party organizations," said Dong Xuehua, head of the bamboo industry association of Hangzhou.

Dong explained that the Party committee of Zijing village negotiated with associations, business owners, Party members, villagers and express delivery companies, cutting the delivery fees for bamboo flutes from 6 yuan per order to 2.9 yuan. "Currently, the village delivers over 3,000 e-commerce orders per day, which means a savings of nearly 10,000 yuan in delivery fees every day," Dong said.

To turn the bamboo flute industry into a sector that promotes common prosperity, Zijing village established a bamboo flute workshop.

A craftsman shows flute-making techniques at a bamboo flute experience center in Zijing village, Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo/Xinhua)

"Without the workshop, I can't live such a good life," said Bao Liyun, a villager who became disabled after a car accident 10 years ago. She learned how to make bamboo flutes from a skilled craftsman in the village and later founded a bamboo flute plant. Today, her annual income exceeds 400,000 yuan.

Zijing village publishes demands for temporary workers every week and dispatches orders to those with difficulties finding employment so that they can engage in the bamboo flute industry at home. It has helped over 800 people with difficulties finding employment earn an extra income of 3,000 to 3,500 yuan per month. Last year, the average annual income of villagers reached 53,000 yuan.

More than 30 households processing bamboo flutes in the village now sell bamboo flutes on livestreams, and over 80 households run stores on Taobao and Tmall, e-commerce platforms under Alibaba Group, said Bao Mingyuan, adding that online sales of bamboo flutes account for 60 percent of the village's total sales of the product.

Young people in the village have put more emphasis on the diversified development of the bamboo flute industry.

Huang Yu, the daughter of Huang Weidong who is an inheritor of the craft of making bamboo flutes, established a studio in the village after she graduated from Hangzhou Normal University. Her studio focuses on flute education, and the development of cultural and innovative products and patents.

Pang Pengfei, born in the 1990s, set up a company after graduating from college, selling courses on how to play the bamboo flute, and relevant cultural products on new media platforms.

"The bamboo flute industry is flourishing in Zijing village. There are also young inheritors here. Villagers are living better lives," said Chen Xiaoping, secretary of the working committee of the Communist Party of China of Zhongtai subdistrict.