Lishui, Zhejiang: Transforming Villages into Paintings
Xinhua News Agency, Hangzhou, June 24th
By Li Ping, Xinhua News Agency Correspondent
Dagangtou Village, situated on the banks of the Oujiang River, offers a picturesque view of mountains and water. Over the years, Lishui City in Zhejiang Province has made significant efforts in constructing beautiful villages through its “ten million project”. What was once just a simple aesthetic improvement has now transformed into an entire landscape, fostering a beautiful economy that aligns with the local environment and exploring the path of green common wealth.
Twenty years ago, Dagangtou, a thousand-year-old village, looked completely different. “At that time, there were over 100 wood product processing workshops in the village. The villagers had cow and pig pens in front and behind their houses, and the riverbanks were filled with rubbish. It was nearly impossible to navigate during rainy days…” recalls Yang, the Secretary of the Jay Town Party Committee in Dagangtou.
Since the launch of Zhejiang’s “Exhibiting Thousands of Villages and Renovating Ten Thousand Villages” project, Dagangtou Village has embarked on improving its environment by focusing on road, water, toilet, and house renovations. They closed down 154 small and low-quality shops, demolished a dirty and untidy wooden product processing workshop spanning 81,800 square meters, and witnessed a remarkable transformation in the village’s appearance.
Similarly, Lianfeng Village in Huzhen Town, Jinyun County, has undergone a beautiful metamorphosis in the past six years. Previously known for its messy and unsightly environment, this garden village now boasts neatly arranged houses and fragrant flowers in every courtyard. Lou Ganqiang, the Secretary of Lianfeng Village’s Party Committee, explains, “Our village used to produce straw mats, and the remains of straw mat production were piled up everywhere. It was a case of modern interiors with dirty and untidy exteriors.” With the implementation of the renovation project, the village successfully cleared over 1,000 tons of straw mat waste, demolished illegal buildings spanning more than 3,000 square meters, and initiated projects such as developing beautiful courtyards and diverting rain and sewage. Lianfeng Village has since become a place of beauty.
Moreover, Lishui City has not only focused on the “ten million projects”, but has also made a systematic effort to build “garden villages” in recent years. Presently, the city has established 413 garden villages and 34,300 gardens.
What sort of impact does the combination of golden sand and clear water create? In 2016, Changting Village in Shitang Town, Yunhe County, came up with the idea of “seeing the sea from the mountains”. They demolished more than 30 duck sheds and dry toilets and transported over 10,000 tons of sand to the barren beach of the inner lake. Through the creation of a spectacular boardwalk and planting coconut trees, they transformed the barren beach into a golden paradise. This development has resulted in a boom in tourism for Changting Village.
Lan Keming, the Secretary of Changting Village’s Party branch, reflects on their journey, saying, “Before the construction of the golden beach, 80% of the villagers sought work and opportunities elsewhere, staring at the green mountains and longing for golden mountains. But with the implementation of the project and the idea of ‘seeing the sea from the mountains’, our village has become as beautiful as ever.” This year alone, the village has welcomed over 600,000 tourists, and a majority of the villagers have returned to their hometowns to start businesses and find work. The annual disposable income per capita has increased from 14,200 yuan in 2015 to 35,000 yuan.
Lishui City has also focused on expanding the transformation channels of “two mountains” — green water and green mountains. They have not only created cultural tourism brands such as “Lishui Mountain Farming”, “Lishui Mountain Residence”, and “Lishui Mountain View”, but have also implemented a double accounting and assessment mechanism through CMC (Carbon Measure Center) and GEP (Gross Ecosystem Product). Additionally, they have ensured the realization of the value of ecological products by pledging, cashing, and exploring funding opportunities.
Data reveals that by the end of 2022, Lishui City aims to issue “mortgage loan and ecological pledge” and “ecological credit loan” worth 26.139 billion yuan and 2.926 billion yuan respectively. Under the principles of green and common wealth, the annual disposable income per capita of farmers in the city is projected to reach 28,470 yuan, showcasing a year-on-year growth rate of 7.9%. This income growth rate has positioned Lishui City as the top performer in rural income growth for 14 consecutive years.
The “Ten Thousand Project” serves as both a construction initiative to improve the living environment in rural areas and a village governance project. Zeng Zhihua, the Secretary of Xitou Village’s Party branch in Baoxi Township, Longquan City, emphasizes that the successful execution of the “Ten Thousand Project” lies in effective mobilization and organization of the masses.
“Fourteen years ago, when we built the ‘Bakeshu Park’, there were many pens, cattle enclosures, and dry toilets on the square. The village committees and villagers actively discussed and collaborated on issues pertaining to demolitions, how to demolish, and how to rebuild. Through open and transparent dialogue, the village successfully demolished over 1,000 square meters of temporary buildings. More than 400 villagers raised over 10,000 yuan to support the park’s construction,” remarks Zeng Zhihua. He highlights the interconnectedness of rural construction and governance, emphasizing it as the key to transforming Xitou Village into one of the most beautiful villages in Zhejiang.
Lishui City is seizing the opportunity of the past 20 years since the initiation of the “Ten Thousand Project” to comprehensively promote rural rejuvenation. Their aim is to meet the new requirements of “deepening and improving” and continue enhancing the sense of achievement, happiness, and security among the people.
Xinhua News Agency, Hangzhou, June 24th Title: Lishui, Zhejiang: Beautiful Villages enter Painting
Xinhua News Agency Correspondent Li Ping
Dagangtou Village on the banks of the Oujiang River. The photo was provided by the interviewee
Mountains are the “top of Zhejiang”, and water is the “source of the six rivers”. In recent years, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province has promoted the construction of beautiful villages with the “ten million project” as the main focus. The beautiful village has developed from a single “bonsai” to a whole “landscape”; he has fostered a. beautiful economy according to local conditions, expand “two mountain” transformation channels, and explore the path of Green common wealth.
In the middle of summer, when you walk into Dagangtou Village, Guyan Painting Township, Liandu District, Lishui City, you can see the beautiful scenery of distant mountains like black clouds, clear water like mirrors, sailing boats on the river. Turning back the clock to 20 years ago, Dagangtou, a thousand-year-old village, has a different scene.
“At that time, there were more than 100 wood product processing workshops in the village. The villagers built cow pens and pig pens in front and behind their houses, and the riverbank was also full of rubbish. It was difficult to get to down on it. rainy days…” recalled Dagangtou Jay Town Party Committee Secretary Yang.
Since Zhejiang launched the project of “Exhibiting Thousands of Villages and Renovating Ten Thousand Villages”, Dagangtou Village began to improve the environment and achieve village improvement with the main content of changing roads, water, toilets and houses, and closing 154 “shops low and small”, a dirty and untidy wooden products processing workshop, 81,800 square meters of illegal buildings were demolished, and a beautiful change was introduced in the village.
Corner of Lianfeng Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter, Li Ping
In June, in Lianfeng Village, Huzhen Town, Jinyun County, the houses are neat and beautiful, and the flowers in the courtyard are fragrant. Who would have thought that this garden village was still a “dirty and untidy village” six years ago.
“Our village used to produce straw mats, and the remains of straw mat production were piled up in front and behind the villagers’ houses. ‘The inside of the house has been modernised, but the dirty and untidy outside’.” said Lou Ganqiang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Lianfeng Village. With the implementation of the “Project”, the village not only cleans up more than 1,000 tons of straw mat waste, demolished more than 3,000 square meters of illegal buildings, but also implemented projects such as beautiful courtyards and diverting rain and sewage The village is becoming more and more beautiful now.
It is understood that on the basis of the “ten million projects”, Lishui City has also planned to systematically build “garden villages” in recent years. To date, the city has created 413 garden villages and 34,300 gardens.
What is the effect of the combination of golden sand and clear water?
In 2016, Changting Village, Shitang Town, Yunhe County implemented the idea of ”seeing the sea from the mountains”, demolished more than 30 duck sheds and dry toilets on the barren beach of the inner lake, transporting more than 10,000 tons of sand on the sea, and built-in support facilities Take a good walk on the boardwalk, plant coconut trees, and turn the barren beach into a golden beach. Tourism in Changting Village became popular.
The golden sandy beach of Changting Village. The photo was provided by the interviewee
“Before the construction of the golden beach, 80% of the villagers went out to work and do business, and the villagers sat and looked at the green mountains and worried about the golden mountains.” Lan Keming, secretary of the Party branch of Changting Village said, by implementing the construction of the beautiful countryside and the idea of ”seeing the sea from the mountains”, the whole village is as beautiful as ever. This year, more than 600,000 tourists have been received, and most of the villagers have returned to their home towns to start businesses and find work. The annual disposable income per capita of the villagers has increased from 14,200 yuan in 2015 to the current 35,000 yuan.
Based on green water and green mountains, in recent years, Lishui City has continued to expand the transformation channels of “two mountains”, not only creating “Lishui Mountain Farming”, “Lishui Mountain Residence”, “Lishui Mountain View” and other “mountain” cultural tourism brands, but also establish CMC and GEP (Gross Ecosystem Product) Double accounting, double assessment, and double assessment mechanism, and GEP pledge, cash, and exploration funding make it possible realizing the value of ecological products.
According to the data, by the end of 2022, the amount of “mortgage loan and ecological pledge” and “ecological credit loan” issued by Lishui City will be 26.139 billion yuan and 2.926 billion yuan respectively; under the green and common wealth, the annual disposable income per capita of farmers in the city will reach 28,470 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%, the income growth rate of rural residents ranked first in the province for 14 consecutive years .
The “Ten Thousand Project” is a construction project to improve the living environment in rural areas, and it is also a village governance project. Zeng Zhihua, Secretary of the Party Branch of Xitou Village, Baoxi Township, Longquan City, said that the key to mobilizing and organizing the masses is to implement the “Ten Thousand Project” well.
A corner of Xitou Village. The photo was provided by the interviewee
“14 years ago, when we built the ‘Bakeshu Park’, many pens and cattle enclosures and dry toilets were built on the square. The two village committees and the villagers discussed and collaborated on issues such as whether demolish. , how to demolish, and how to build Discussion. In the openness and transparency, not only has the village successfully demolished more than 1,000 square meters of temporary buildings, more than 400 villagers also raised more than 10,000 yuan of money to support the construction of the park.” Zeng Zhihua said that rural construction and rural governance go hand in hand. The key to change from village back to “most beautiful village in Zhejiang”.
The charm of mountains and rivers, the prosperity of industries, and the beauty of people. The relevant person in charge of Lishui Municipal Government said that Lishui City is taking the great opportunity of 20 years since the “Ten Thousand Project” to comprehensively promote the regeneration of the countryside around the new requirements of “deepening and improving” , and continue to improve the sense of achievement, happiness and security that people feel.
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