Sika deer gather at a farm in Luxiang town in Shuangyang district. [Photo provided to Chinadaily.com.cn]

In recent years, the Shuangyang district of Changchun -- capital city of Northeast China's Jilin province -- has promoted the establishment of an innovative development model to help its rural revitalization, achieving great results.

At present, there are 140,000 sika deer, more than 10,000 deer rasing households and 1,400 small and medium-sized deer farms in Luxiang town in the district.

There are more than 40 deer-related product R&D enterprises and more than 200 farmers' cooperatives and family farms engaged in raising sika deer.

In 2019, the per capita net income of farmers in Luxiang town came in at 25,850 yuan ($3,854) in Shuangyang district. Locals said the sika deer industry has become the key to increasing the income of the whole town.

With all the activities related to the sika deer -- together with traditional folk culture -- there is a tourist boom going on, with the town receiving more than 1 million tourists each year and realizing annual tourism revenue of 1 billion yuan.

In addition, key beautification and greening projects have made the area even more attractive.