Better Tourism, Better Life, Better World project shows cases of poverty alleviation in China through tourism. The project, includes photo exhibition and documentary series, describe provinces, autonomous regions, cities and villages across China that were once in severe poverty and thanks to the tourism industry got out of poverty and had a better life”.
Shanzhou Silo-Cave Scenic Zone, Beiying Village, Sanmenxia City, Henan Province, China
Located in Beiying Village, Sanmenxia City. Henan Province, Shanzhou silo-caves are among the oldest living quarters in China and the world, Opened to public in 2016, the caves have since received 800,000 tourists a year on average, with an annual tourism revenue of 25 million RMB To address the poverty situation in Beiying Village with the silo-cave tourism resources, the Scenic Zone and Beiying Village over the years have jointly pursued a strategy of relying on the silo-case resources, developing rural tourism, providing jobs, so as to lift the people out of poverty. Measures were taken to give priority to hiring poor people to work in the businesses and, in particular cases create jobs for them. Since 2016, Baiweixiang (Hundred-flavor Alley) in the scenic zone has employed 96 villagers from Beiying Village to work in its restaurants; Baiyiyuan (Hundred Arts Street) employed 69 villagers in its retail businesses, and the sanitation and security departments provided jobs for 216 villagers. In Beiying Village with a population of nearly 1,000 people, almost every family now has someone engaged in work related to tourism. Beiying Village has realized an annual tourism revenue of 4 million RMB. The villagers earned 4,000 RMB per capita annually through tourism as an additional income. The I5 people fit to work of the 13 impoverished households in Beiying Village are now all working in the scenic zone. The whole village has been lifted out of 100% poverty.
Yuxi Baicaoyuan, Xinping Village, Lushi County, Sanmenxia City, Henan Province, China
Yuxi Baicaoyuan or Hundred Plant Park, is located in Xinping Village, Guandaokou Town, Lushi County, Sanmenxia City, Henan Province. The village used to have 10 groups of villagers, including 75 impoverished families, who lived in gullies and ditches scattering in an area of 12 square kilometers. In November 2014, Sanmenxia Baicaoyuan Agricultural Science and Technology Co., Ltd. invested in building Baicaoyuan. By taking advantage of Lushi’s natural resources, the company integrated the use of farmland, trained villagers as skilled workers, developed a plant industry with special features and realized online sales. More than 1,000 mu farmland belonging to the village’s Hegou and Beiping groups, were turned into sports featuring herbal medicine, lavender. crape myrtle, 24-solar-term views and lupinus.
Meanwhile, 28 villagers’ homes in Hegou Village were renovated in the original style, and turned into health-tea house, antique shop, wine shop. mill, tofu shop, etc, and a folk. Culture spot was set up showcasing “period stories”. Thus Xinping village was transformed into a national traditional Chinese medicine ecological park with a beautiful environment and modern facilities, combining eco-farming, sightseeing and leisure, health care with Chinese medicine, folk culture experiencing and holiday tourism. At the end of 2018, all the Xinping villagers were officially out of poverty.
Gushi County, Xinyang City, Henan Province, China
Gushi County in Henan Province, in carrying out poverty alleviation through tourism, mobilized all tourism enterprises in the county to help key impoverished villages and households with a variety of measures including: setting up pairs of mutual assistance, boosting village economy through tourism, creating jobs, developing projects, buying at fixed supplier and providing training and guidance. In West Jiuhua Mountain scenic area, 300 households with 800 people were lifted out of poverty with the help provided by the enterprises in nearby employment, financing, land transfer and introduction of e-commerce logistics. In Huayang Lake scenic area, 200 households with 567 people shook off poverty with the help in getting jobs, development of planting, land transfer and processing work: Jiuhuashan Tea Farm in Chenlinzi Town cook the approach of distributing dividends from business operations and helped 200 families with 678 people out of poverty.
Jiuchongbei Ecological Park of Henan Mufu Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. helped 1,627 families with 4,880 people bid farewell to poverty by offering nearby employment, distributing dividends to villagers as shareholders, providing financing, transferring land and gathering villagers’ pigs for breeding and marketing by skilled pig farmers. A total of 3,019 impoverished households numbering 9,015 people, as well as the 14 key impoverished villages across the county, are now officially out of poverty though tourism.
