The picture shows that on April 23, 2022, volunteers from the China Healthy and Good Countryside Project planted trees in Tongxin Forest in Xiangzhazi Village. Photo taken by the China Healthy and Good Rural Project Team
China News Service, Beijing, July 1st. Title: Solar term culture, authentic herbal medicine, health care B&B ... The rural rebirth plan in Xiangzhazi Village
China News Service reporter Li Hanxue
Located in Huairou, Beijing Xiangzhazi Village in Changshaoying Manchu Township in the deep mountainous area in the north has many mountains and little land. It is one of the villages in this area that relies on forestry to make a living. Convert farmland to forests , serve as ecological rangers... For some time, many villagers have relied on government policies and are unwilling to use more brains; most villagers who hope to increase their income choose to go out to work, and the remaining half of the village are elderly.
"I have been working as a village secretary for 23 years, and I have always wanted to make the people of this village rich. To be rich, you must have industry. Without industry, it is nonsense." Zhang Fengqin, secretary of the village branch of Xiangzhazi Village, said that the village has 108 households with 210 people and a permanent population of 210. There are less than 100 people, and the per capita annual income of the permanent population is 23,000 yuan.
The picture shows the Xiaoshu Solar Terms Cultural Park in Xiangzhazi Village. Photo by Li Hanxue
But how to create an industry out of thin air? This has also been a headache for Zhang Fengqin for many years. There is little arable land in the village, so traditional agriculture will definitely not work. But the village has a beautiful ecological environment. Could it be an opportunity? The village is built along the Tang River, separated from the hustle and bustle of urban Beijing; just a few steps from the door of any household is a gurgling creek paved with gravel. On the other side of the river are gentle rolling green hills with lush vegetation. There is also a reservoir with an area of about 10,000 square meters in the village. Surrounded by green mountains, it looks more like a peaceful lake. The village has never known how to convert the superior ecological environment into economic benefits. Four or five years ago, Zhang Fengqin took the lead in renovating a rather exquisite Chinese-style B&B in the village. However, due to its lack of features and inconvenient transportation, the response has been mediocre.
However, in the autumn of 2021, the arrival of the public welfare project "China's Healthy and Good Villages" has brought new inspiration and real hope to the new life of Xiangzhazi Village.
"China's Healthy and Good Rural Areas" (hereinafter referred to as the "Good Rural Areas Project") is a large-scale rural revitalization assistance public welfare project guided by the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee. In the second half of 2021, the Good Rural Areas Project will officially be launched in Changshaoying Township. After landing, we first started the construction of part of the "One Village, One Custom" "Cultural Camp" project: relying on the traditional Chinese 24 solar terms culture, with 24 local villages as the basic unit, each village will speak for and inherit a solar term traditional intangible cultural heritage. Culture, and build solar terms squares, solar terms cultural parks, etc. according to the scale of the village. Xiangzhazi Village represents the "Small Heat" solar term. Before the new year, the solar term park took shape with the support of the Good Village Project. The project team leveled an open space along the river in the village and used stone millstones to build wells, tables and chairs with local interest... "Now the villagers like to go for a walk in the solar terms park after eating." Zhang Fengqin said: "They ( Good Rural Projects are different from those that came to provide assistance in the past. Some just talk and do nothing after they come. They really work hard and are really investing."
The picture shows the reservoir in Xiangzhazi Village. Photo by Li Hanxue
While promoting the improvement of cultural heritage and villagers' health awareness, the Good Village Project began to tailor "one village, one medicine" (herbal camp) and "one village, one product" (production camp) for each village. The reason why "Bencaoying" was planned is that the entire Changshaoying Township is located at the foot of the Yanshan Mountains, which is a natural high-quality source of Chinese medicinal materials, and each village itself has a large amount of forest land. The Good Countryside Project takes advantage of the platform's years of deep involvement in the field of public welfare medical care, and cooperates with medical experts from the capital to select Chinese herbal medicines that are suitable for planting and have high economic benefits for each village in Changshaoying.
Xiangzhazi Village, under the coordination of Dong Xu, the project ambassador in the village, selected the medicinal material Astragalus . "We first invited Professor Guo Lanping, director of the Chinese Medicine Resource Center of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, to inspect the soil quality here. After entering the actual planting stage, the expert team will continue to provide consultation and assistance to the village." Dong Xu introduced that after repeated communication with village cadres , the village first planted 10 acres of astragalus on an experimental basis at the beginning of 2022. “Secretary Zhang has a very strong appeal and works quickly. After our communication, he quickly organized the villagers to level the land and plant Chinese herbal medicine."
" is growing well, with a germination rate of over 80%. "Zhang Fengqin said that in the past, ordinary people would go to the mountains to collect herbs to earn pocket money, so they could understand the economic prospects of Chinese herbal medicine cultivation. He said that in the past, the forest land in the village was idle. If it can become an understory herbal medicine economy in the future, it would really be a great success. It's a good thing. It is understood that the project team is also planning to add Atractylodes to the cultivation of Chinese herbal medicine.
The picture shows the first batch of Chinese herbal medicines planted in the Xiangzhazi Village. Photographed by Li Hanxue
"One village, one product" special agricultural products. , Zhang Fengqin proposed cypress bacon and original No. 1 tomatoes, which were supported by the staff of the Good Village Project. Cypress bacon is a traditional dish of Xiangzhazi, and original No. 1 tomatoes were a high-quality tomato variety that he had always been optimistic about. There was an idea to promote these two products in the village, but funds were limited and the villagers had a wait-and-see mentality, so they never pushed it forward. Now, with the support of the Good Village Project, Cypress Bacon has entered the product packaging stage, Original Flavor No. 1. Tomatoes will also be planted on a trial basis this winter. Zhang Fengqin told reporters that the tomatoes taste very good and can be purchased for 20 yuan per pound. As long as the trial planting is successful, the seeds will be distributed to farmers in the village. He is very excited about the future benefits. .
During the conversation, Zhang Fengqin mentioned from time to time that the villagers' "wait-and-see mentality" is indeed a difficult but necessary problem to overcome in rural revitalization. Although the staff praised Zhang Fengqin for his strong appeal, he said that developing industries in the village is not an easy task. "It's quite difficult." The villagers hope to improve their lives, but no one dares to invest money in it without seeing actual benefits. "It's not that the people are not interested, but they can't see 'Li'er,' so they just wait and see. He will do it after others make money. If you want him to take the initiative to get it, this is really not possible. "Zhang Fengqin said that no matter what he did, he and several village cadres took the lead in doing it and worked hard to mobilize the people.
The arrival of the Hao Rural Project will undoubtedly further give villagers who are timid to try a shot in the arm a boost. Dong Xu said that with good products , sales are the most important, and the project team has extensive experience in packaging and selling rural specialty agricultural products. The project team will fully support the good ideas of village cadres. Another example is tomato planting. If there are poor households who want to participate but lack funds, the project team will give them full support. It can also take the form of setting up a cooperative, allowing poor villagers to contribute only part of their money into shares, and then distribute dividends after harvest, thus reducing the financial burden on the villagers. The picture shows the fitness and leisure equipment set up by Zhang Fengqin, secretary of Xiangzhazi village, by the river.
Regarding the homestay tourism in Xiangzhazi Village, village cadres and good village project staff also came up with new ideas around "wellness". On the one hand, combined with the Chinese herbal medicine planting plan, they believe that they can continue to introduce medicated meals, Chinese herbal soup baths, etc. in the future. In addition, they plan to improve the environment of the village to provide tourists with a full range of health and wellness products. In fact, Zhang Fengqin had already thought about it before and had already set up an open space by the river. Create a "mini amusement park": swings, seesaws, plum blossom piles and other facilities are placed in the grove on the river bank, which is quite wild. The next plan is to use the village's reservoir to start a fishing project, and at the same time continue to improve the solar term square to make it more popular. It is more suitable for walking and leisure.
As for the B&B itself, the project team plans to rent unused houses from villagers through cooperatives, and then carry out professional design and renovation. After it is completed according to the plan, local people will be hired. service personnel, and invite some people with experience in B&B operations to come to the village for training, thereby driving the village residents to become rich through tourism.
Dong Xu frankly said that B&B tourism from planning and construction to generating revenue must be a long-term process; especially these two. Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, progress has indeed been delayed. However, the staff and village cadres of the Good Rural Project are very determined and confident in changing and updating Xiangzhazi Village.
The picture shows the staff of the China Healthy Good Rural Project and the project. Zhang Fengqin, secretary of Zhazi Village, inspects the growth of Chinese herbal medicines at a Chinese herbal medicine planting base. Photographed by the China Healthy and Good Rural Project Team
“Using astragalus to make medicinal meals and soups will definitely make money in the future if it develops well.Zhang Fengqin has a firm belief in the village’s self-reliance and industrial development: “What is given by the country is always given by the country. If you start your own industry and make money, you will do it yourself and you will never fall behind. But this cannot be accomplished overnight, and each of us must work hard. " He said that Xiangzhazi Village has the conditions to develop industry, so it must achieve this goal as soon as possible. Only when the people get rich can the countryside be revitalized.
In a few days, it will be the "Little Heat" solar term endorsed by Xiangzhazi Village. Since last year During every solar term, the Good Village Project will carry out cultural activities for the convenience of the people in the corresponding villages. Zhang Fengqin has some ideas for this time. He suggested that if medical treatment is inconvenient in the village, the project team can arrange for medical experts from the capital to come to Xiangzhazi Village. During a free clinic, villagers who have undergone examinations have the opportunity to show their X-rays to experts in Beijing.
The picture shows the Xiaoshu Solar Terms Cultural Park in Xiangzhazi Village.
The proposal was given to the project team immediately. Dong Xu said that the project team had actually planned to arrange free clinics, health lectures, etc. for the villagers, but the recent epidemic has put many plans on hold. “In the early stage, we were worried that the people would think that these people came just to show off. As for health assistance activities, ordinary people will benefit immediately. " Dong Xu said that free clinics can bring tangible benefits to the people and enhance health awareness. It is also a good thing for raising awareness of China's healthy rural projects. "When people are healthy, the next step is to get rich. "
With a pot of mountain spring water and a few cups of tea, the project team staff talked with the village cadres for another afternoon. After talking about the Xiaoshu solar term activity plan, they went to the Chinese herbal medicine planting base to check the seedlings. "They look really good! Dong Xu squatted down to check the seedlings: "There are quite a lot of weeds. We will weed them in two days." "I've just been here too!" "Zhang Fengqin said with concern: "It cannot be done without people taking care of it. ”
According to the staff, the entire process from the successful trial planting of Astragalus to the final production of profits may take three to four years, which is slow but worth looking forward to. I believe that in the past few years, the village cadres, villagers and good villagers of Xiangzhazi Village will The project staff will work hard to create a new life for this village (End)
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