Kaifeng, November 11 (Reporter Zuo Yuqing) The eighteen bends of the Yellow River in Jiuqu, the last bend, are in Lankao County, Henan Province.

The special geographical location has caused the people of Lankao to suffer from waterlogging, sandstorms and salinity for a long time. Until the 60s of the last century, Jiao Yulu came to Lankao and led the local people to plant paulownia, rectify the "three evils", and compose a spiritual hymn in this land with his life.

Today's Lankao County, in the relay struggle of generations of Lankao people, follows the spirit of Jiao Yulu, throws off the "poor hat" and puts on "new clothes", the "three evils" rampant has become blue and green, the barren land has become thousands of hectares of fertile land, and the escape from famine has become employment at the doorstep, and has embarked on a unique road of rural revitalization.

Xuchang Village, Kuoyang Town: Paulownia Tree Becomes a "Tree of Prosperity"

The times have changed, and the paulownia has become a forest.

At that time, Paulownia was windproof and sand fixation, and became the "hero" of the control of Lankao's sandstorm disaster; Now, with the characteristics of fast timing, loose wood, good acoustics and strong resonance, Paulownia has become a "rich tree" for the local people.

In Xuchang Village, Lankao County, the local good paulownia wood resources have allowed Xuchang Village to develop a characteristic industry of rural revitalization that uses traditional handicraft techniques to produce national musical instruments such as guzheng and guqin.

"There are a total of 106 households and 628 people in Xuchang Village, of which 95 households make a living from the production of national musical instruments." Commentator Li Mengchen said that from national musical instruments such as guzheng, guqin, and pipa, to supporting products such as strings, zheng, and bags, Xuchang Village has formed a complete industrial chain.

The piano room of a family piano workshop in Xuchang Village, Qiyang Town. Photo by Zuo Yuqing

Walking into a piano workshop, the master worker is seriously grinding the semi-finished guqin. Li Mengchen told reporters that the soundboard for making the guqin needs to grow 15-25 years of paulownia trees, cut down and stored for 30 years before processing, while a complete guqin takes about three years to complete.

"So now we see that this batch of guqins is basically made after the paulownia trees planted by the people of Lankao led by Secretary Jiao Yulu back then." She said.

It is understood that Xuchang Village has an annual output of more than 10,1 sets of various national musical instruments, with an annual output value of 8 million yuan, of which the annual output value achieved through the e-commerce platform reaches 6000 million yuan. "Basically, every musical instrument workshop has opened an online store, and every afternoon, a number of express logistics will come to the door to provide door-to-door service to receive the national musical instruments sent by the villagers to all parts of the country, and the villagers can realize the production and sales of national musical instruments without leaving the village."

Hezhai Village, Hui'an Street: "Pear Fruit Township" Promotes "Beautiful Economy"

In addition to the use of paulownia resources, the people of Lankao have also adapted measures to local conditions and walked out of other rural characteristic industries.

When Jiao Yulu led the people of the county to afforestation and sand control and rectify the "three evils", the villagers of Hezhai and the surrounding areas noticed that Hezhai and the surrounding terrain were low-lying in the process of sand control, and after many attempts, they found that it was more suitable to plant pear trees. Since the 60s of the last century, pear trees began to be planted here, and after years of development, the current "<>,<> acres of pear orchard" has been formed.

"From 2014 to 2017, we widened the road and started planting pear trees on a large scale. In 2022, a pear comprehensive processing plant will be built in the village, and the masses will increase their income by 1000,2000~1,<> yuan per mu, and after the output increases, the income per mu will reach about <>,<> yuan. Our pears are also pulled out by the masses to sell, and now our customers go to the fields to purchase. Bian Qilong, secretary of the party branch of Hezhai Village, said.

The appearance of Hezhai Village. Photo by Zuo Yuqing

According to reports, on the basis of relying on scientific and technological support to enhance the development of the fresh pear industry, Hezhai Village has introduced pear fruit deep processing projects to produce pear paste, pear wine, pear vinegar, pear paste sugar, etc., extending the pear fruit industry chain and enhancing the added value of products.

While vigorously developing the industry, Hezhai Village will also integrate tourism elements into the construction of beautiful villages, build a characteristic layout of "one household and one rhyme", realize the transformation of beautiful rural construction from "temporary beauty" to "lasting beauty", rely on 10,000 acres of pear orchards, create a leisure and tourism industry integrating "eating, living, traveling, playing and Tesco", develop farmhouses, food streets, picking gardens, style homestays, parent-child amusement, research tourism and other industrial formats, constantly stimulate the vitality of cultural tourism consumption, and turn beautiful villages into beautiful economies. (ENDS)