Farmers in Shandong witness new rural vitality

In the prefecture-level city of Yantai in Shandong province, the open fields and greenhouses of Sanyou Manor in Daqinjia Street are filled with hanging fruits and vegetables, spreading their fragrance far and wide.

At Sanyou Manor in the county-level coastal city of Zhaoyuan, natural, green, pollution-free crops please the eye with an endless array of grapes, melons, horned cucumbers, dragon fruits, apples, tomatoes, cucumbers, rapeseed, celery, eggplants, snap beans, kidney beans, wax gourds, and sweet potatoes.

Jiang Kai, who is in charge of Sanyou Manor, said: "We have formed an integrated industrial chain of seedling cultivation, planting, and sales by creating a production base, introducing planting technology, and innovating sales models."

Dubbed a "gold capital" in China, Zhaoyuan ranks No 1 among the country's county-level cities for proven gold reserves, with its gold resources spreading all over the region and making the city's 542,120-odd residents rich with a high income.

The city's GDP hit 86.845 billion yuan ($12.1 billion) by the end of 2023, a rise of 7.3 percent year-on-year, Jiang said, adding that with the high income for residents, Zhaoyuan is better developing its agriculture to boost farmers' earnings amid rural vitalization.

Leveraging its agricultural and rural resources, Daqinjia Street has focused on enriching its residents through industries, implementing provincial-level demonstration projects and exploring a unique path of rural vitalization with ecological and livable characteristics.

Jiang said the Sanyou Manor has chosen to develop specialty fruit and vegetable industries based on its unique conditions, transforming the village's resource advantages into product and industry advantages.

"For the long-term development of the manor, we regularly invite vegetable and fruit experts to lecture employees on professional knowledge, ensuring that the management in the manor is quite professional," he said.

"Coupled with organic production, the taste of fruits and vegetables in our manor is better," he said, noting that currently, it has employed over 100 locals for the jobs, leading more farmers on the path to prosperity.

He stressed that Daqinjia Street will continue to bolster development in industries, talent, culture and ecology, accelerating its agricultural development and creating more beautiful and harmonious villages.

Li Na contributed to this story