Xiaogang Village, Fengyang, Anhui: Retaining Homesickness, Retaining Tourists

China Culture Daily, May 9, 2025

Special report published on the 6th edition

Xiaogang Village, Fengyang, Anhui: Retaining Homesickness, Retaining Tourists

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The exhibition of intangible cultural heritage in Xiaogang Village's "Former Farmhouse" scenic area has attracted a large number of study tour students. Photo by Kong Linghui

As the birthplace of rural reform in China, Xiaogang Village in Fengyang County, Anhui Province, based on local characteristic resources, has taken the lead in exploring a cultural and tourism integrated development path of "red genes+intangible cultural heritage+agricultural tourism experience". In 2024, Xiaogang Village received 620000 tourists, with a comprehensive tourism income of 165 million yuan and a collective economic income exceeding 14.8 million yuan.

Retain nostalgia and activate rural development momentum

During the May Day holiday, the Xiaogang Village "Farmer's Home" Scenic Spot was very busy. A thatched house less than 6 square meters in the scenic spot was crowded with tourists buying soybean milk. Sun Yongzhen, a 60 year old villager from the store, was busy selling over 200 cups a day. Cheng Li, a tourist, said, "When drinking freshly ground soybean milk in a thatched cottage, the taste of home in my memory comes to my mind."

Xiaogang Village has always attached great importance to rural ecological protection, not only increasing the protection of historical relics, but also intentionally preserving the rural flavor of newly added cultural and tourism products. In the opinion of Yang Yongqiang, Chairman of Xiaogang Village Tourism Investment Company, retaining nostalgia means retaining tourists.

Strolling through the "Former Farmhouse" scenic area, visitors are transported back to the historical site of the "Big Big Bag" where scenes from the 1960s and 1970s, such as thatched cottages, agricultural tool displays, and ancient oil pressing workshops, are restored. Not only are 18 replicas of red handprints preserved here, but also through upgrading the memorial hall exhibition and constructing a high standard farmland landscape belt, creating "internet famous check-in spots" such as "rice field paintings", making nostalgic memories and modern ecological agriculture complement each other.

Retaining nostalgia has activated new momentum in rural cultural and tourism construction. In recent years, Xiaogang Village has implemented the three character formula of "construction, renovation, and management", built supporting facilities such as Xiaogang Village dormitories and study bases, upgraded the automatic ticketing system, introduced intelligent services such as the "Cloud Tour Xiaogang" app, and achieved "small investment, big improvement". In 2024, Xiaogang Village was selected as one of the "World's Best Tourist Villages" by the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Live inheritance, tell the story of Xiaogang Village well

In the "Former Farmhouse" scenic area, the national level intangible cultural heritage Fengyang Flower Drum performance attracted applause from research tourists. It is understood that Xiaogang Village receives over 100000 study tour visitors annually.

Relying on national intangible cultural heritage resources such as Fengyang Flower Drum and Fengyang Folk Songs, Xiaogang Village has built a large stage for intangible cultural heritage performances. Every year, more than 200 folk performances are held. In addition to watching the performances, tourists can also immersively experience 11 traditional skills such as Paper Cuttings and ancient oil pressing.

Mu Xing, the representative inheritor of Fengyang folk songs at the provincial level of intangible cultural heritage, told reporters that intangible cultural heritage exhibitions and performances are quite popular in scenic areas, and when busy, he can sing more than 30 times a day. Yan Shushu, the granddaughter of Yan Junchang, one of the leaders of the "Big Package" initiative, is an online "intangible cultural heritage guide" for the scenic area. She showcases the charm of Fengyang Flower Drum to everyone through short videos. My short video account now has 10000 fans, and some tourists have seen the content I shared, which has given them a new understanding of Xiaogang Village. I am very happy to contribute to the attraction's traffic flow, "she said with a smile.

In order to attract tourists from all over the world, Xiaogang Village also holds rich characteristic activities such as the Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival, Xiaogang Village Grape Culture Tourism Festival, and Xiaogang Folk Street Performance every year. In addition, Xiaogang Village has produced more than 10 film and television works such as "Eighteen Handprints," "Forty Years of Xiaogang Family," and "Flowers Bloom on the Hill." It has also released literary works such as "Forty Years of Xiaogang Village" and "Xiaogang Chronicles," showcasing the vivid scene of Xiaogang's reform and opening up in a panoramic manner through excellent literary works. In 2024, more than a thousand college students from 139 universities across the country will carry out rural revitalization practices in Xiaogang Village, write over 300 research reports, and inject youthful vitality into Xiaogang Village.

Tourism Plus Helps Rural Revitalization

Over the past 10 minutes, I've been able to play for several days now! "Exclaimed Guan Chuanliang, a tourist from Hefei. Through models such as "tourism+education" and "tourism+agriculture", Xiaogang Village has built an industrial chain that integrates research and learning, homestays, and agricultural product processing.

At present, the national level research and education base in Xiaogang Village is being intensively constructed. The base covers an area of 139 acres, and in the future, it will be able to meet the accommodation needs of 580 people and dining needs of 1000 people at the same time. It will form a practical education base that integrates parent-child amusement, study and education, labor planting, catering and accommodation, and cultural and performing arts, "said Sun Biao, Deputy General Manager of Xiaogang Village Tourism Investment Company.

In 2023, Xiaogang Village welcomes guests. The village dormitory is based on traditional Jianghuai architecture and integrates modern leisure concepts. The facilities such as the auditorium, cafeteria, snack street, coffee shop, and tea room are reasonably distributed, and the campfire campsite and fruit and vegetable picking garden are fully equipped. During the May Day holiday, the occupancy rate of guest rooms exceeded 70%, "said Han Zhengliang, the head of the village dormitory.

The rural homestay "Jinchang Restaurant" established by Yan Jinchang, the leader of the "Big Package" initiative, is a microcosm of local industrial integration. With policy support and brand operation, "Jinchang Restaurant" has become a vivid "classroom" for tourists to listen to stories of reform. In addition, Xiaogang Village has introduced deep processing enterprises such as Panpan Food and steamed rice, developed characteristic picking industries such as blueberries and grapes, and enabled the "trunk economy" to drive annual sales of agricultural products to exceed 200 million yuan.

Article source: China Culture Daily