Changsha, November 11 (Xiang Yipeng) In the early winter, the rice returned to the warehouse, and it was the time of agricultural leisure. In Xinhe Village, Xiaohe Township, Liuyang, Changsha, villager Zhan Qiuming picked up a paintbrush and turned into a painter, looking for inspiration around the beautiful landscape in the village and painting the beautiful scenery of his hometown.
A peasant painter in Xiaohe Township, Liuyang, Changsha, is painting. Photo courtesy of Changsha Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Xinhe Village is located on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the transportation is inconvenient. In 2016, Xiaohe Township explored the model of "tourism + culture + poverty alleviation", and some villages tried to set up rural studios. Because of his relevant experience, Qiu Guirong, who works in an oil painting base in Shenzhen, established the Xinhe Village Zhimo Studio to train some peasant painters. When Zhan Qiuming learned the news, he immediately signed up and became the first batch of painters, mainly responsible for painting landscapes.
The studio adopts the operation mode of unified training, unified orders and unified sales, and invites painting teachers from other places to enter the village to teach the villagers painting skills for free. After 3 to 6 months of training, the qualified painters are responsible for different processes such as painting mountains, water, people and coloring according to the style provided by the order, and cooperate to complete the order, and the works are then sold by the studio, and the villagers can get an average salary of about 3500,<> yuan per month.
"Nowadays, the pursuit of farmers is also improving, and painting can not only make money, but also enrich spiritual life." Zhan Qiuming said.
The painting industry in Xinhe Village has become an important industry to promote rural revitalization. Photo courtesy of Changsha Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Through several years of development, Xiaohe Township has built the peasant painting industry into one of the important industries that consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively connect with rural revitalization. More than 400 peasant painters in Xiaohe Township, under the leadership of several studios, have gone to the whole country with works with the fragrance of the earth.
"Not every project is as successful as painting, and we have taken a lot of detours, but in the end we have cleared our minds." In the view of Wang Chunqiu, secretary of the general party branch and director of the village committee of Xinhe Village, there is hope and prospects for Xinhe Village to take the path of integrating agriculture, culture and tourism to promote rural revitalization.
In addition to the painting industry, the Galaxy Observatory in Xinhe Village is staging a new chapter in the nightlife of the countryside with the starry sky and moonlight. "Space Capsule", "Milky Way" wooden house, "Water Drop Starry Sky" tent... A series of special camping facilities at the Galaxy Observatory Camping Base attract many tourists to come to the camping base, who are leisurely, drinking and chatting, all of which are comfortable.
It is understood that on the basis of Pinduoduo's donation of 100 million yuan to Xiaohe Township, in January 2022, the Galaxy Observatory was established in Xinhe Village. This is the only quasi-professional observatory built in the countryside in Hunan Province, with a total area of 1 square meters, the main building covers an area of 368.78 square meters, the top floor has an astronomical observation dome that can rotate 5 degrees and a diameter of 360 meters, and a large-aperture professional-grade astronomical telescope is built-in, which can be used for daily planetary monitoring and star cluster nebula observation.
The Galaxy Observatory helps the integrated development of rural agriculture, culture and tourism. Photo courtesy of Changsha Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Since the completion of the observatory, there have been more hotels and homestays in Xiaohe Township. Ms. Lin's homestay in Xinhe Village is very close to the observatory, and business is good. Especially on weekends, it is even more difficult to find a room. "Now I can take care of my parents while doing business, and I have a good life." Ms. Lin said.
Relying on the excellent ecological environment and unique farming culture of Xiaohe Township, in October 2021, after many explorations inside and outside the province, the Hunan Satellite TV team locked the filming location of the program "Little Shop on the Cloud" in Xinhe Village. With the popularity of the program, online and offline detonated the popularity of Xiaohe Township, igniting the engine of the development of agriculture, culture and tourism in Xinhe Village.
Big coffee and celebrities from all walks of life came to the small shop on the cloud and walked into all corners of the village, turning Xinhe Village into an "Internet celebrity village". Many villagers also appeared on camera generously, and they became addicted to actors. Dozens of goods such as vegetarian vegetables, sauerkraut, dried plum vegetables, chopped peppers, dried radish, honey and so on the shelves of the small shop are all homemade local specialties produced by the villagers, which are quite popular with tourists. Since the beginning of this year, the sales of special agricultural products in small shops on the cloud have reached 30,<> yuan.
"Our stuff is pure, the tourists love it, and the villagers see a business opportunity. Like umeboshi, in the past, the villagers would only cook and eat for themselves, but now almost every household makes it and sells it in the store. Wang Chunqiu said that in the next step, the village will make up for the shortcomings of infrastructure, based on its advantages and characteristics, and continue to take the road of rural revitalization with the integrated development of agriculture, culture and tourism with Xinhe characteristics. (ENDS)