Natural habitats

Different to Gao and Jiang, Shanghai-based Wang Xingyu has been striving to integrate education with rural experiences.

In 2017, he started Beyond the City, a company which makes arrangements for middle and high school students to experience rural life.

To date, Wang has managed to bring more than 4,000 urban students to villages across the country, including the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Sichuan province and the terraced farmlands in Yunnan province.

Interactions with traditional rural arts troupes in Heze, Shandong province, and ethnic Ewenki people in Aoluguya in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, are also a regular occurrence.

"Instead of traveling in the countryside, students live in villagers' homes, and take courses in literature, social research, opera performance and architecture design," Wang says. "They will also learn the value of labor."

Wang stumbled upon the potential of using rural villages for educational purposes after he finished his study of international politics and relations. He explored rural areas due to his academic interests and passion for national affairs, and that was when he realized that each village offers its own distinctive culture and history, which can complement the knowledge imparted to the students in the classroom.

"It's like moving the training from a classroom to the grand auditorium of nature, and it enables students to commune with rural culture," Wang says.

He's optimistic about the future of his business, especially after the central authorities introduced the "double reduction" policy last year, aiming to reduce the burden of excessive homework and tuition on young students.

"This focus on quality education will surely boost learning outside the classroom," he says.

So far, Wang has established contact with a number of schools and has conceived numerous educational experiences, including live action role-playing games featuring revolutionary history in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province.

"For future rural tourism, opportunities might lie in the intersections of different industries," he says.