Villages adapt to changing times

Gala performers

The picturesque village of Zhongdai in Jiaxing is situated about 16 kilometers northwest of Xujiadai. Birds fly over gray-tiled, white-walled properties on the banks of a meandering river, while numerous visitors enjoy fishing at a pond.

Early last month, as Liu Fang prepared food for weekend guests, she spoke fondly of a recent gala staged in Zhongdai, her home village.

Hosted by China Central Television on Sept 3, the gala featured dancing and singing troupes, as well as 600 drones that lit up the sky above the village.

The event was a rehearsal for and a prerecording of the Chinese Farmers Harvest Festival gala, which aired nationwide on Sept 23.

Liu said: "The gala was splendid. I received many orders after the event, especially with the National Day holiday just around the corner at the time."

She has run a rural catering business for many years, with turnover ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a day during weekends and major holidays.

"Now that the village has a nice environment, visitors from Shanghai, Hangzhou (capital of Zhejiang) and Jiaxing are arriving to see what it is like," Liu said.

Zhongdai used to be one of the most economically backward areas of Jiaxing. In 2010, the village's collective income was a little over 100,000 yuan.

In 2013, the authorities in Zhongdai began eyeing an economy based on the logistics sector as the Pinghu Economic-Technological Development Zone in the neighborhood became a national-level zone.

Yang Sijun, Zhongdai's Party secretary, said properties in the village were transformed into factories. New properties were built to rent out, which over the years have produced a 10 percent return on investment.

Zhongdai has also accelerated the transfer of land use to develop modern agriculture.