After alleviating poverty, look at the “hematopoietic” revitalization of a western county

Green tea gardens spread along the mountain, extending from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain; there is the clanking of hammers in the silver jewelry shop, the fragrance of rosin in the batik shop, and the traditional handicraft workshops are busy; the laughter of tourists is accompanied by the sound of gurgling water, echoing in the mountain villages... Hidden deep in the hinterland of Miao Mountains, Danzhai County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, is full of vitality.

Danzhai County was once a key county in the national poverty alleviation and development work and was designated for assistance by the National Audit Office. In April 2019, the entire county was lifted out of poverty. Getting rid of poverty is not the end, but the starting point of a new life and new struggle. Over the past seven years, Danzhai County has explored a development path for comprehensive rural revitalization based on its own unique resource endowments.

Facing the market, developing the whole chain of tea industry

Arriving at Mazhai Village, Longquan Town, Danzhai County, the aroma of tea is fragrant. In the processing workshop, the withering, rolling, fermentation, drying and other processes are fully controllable, and the fresh leaves are turned into dark black tea leaves.

This scene was unimaginable in the early years. Wu Rendong, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who returned to his hometown, remembers that his parents’ tea-making tools were simple, including an iron pot and a handful of firewood, and the tea they sold didn’t even have packaging.

The tea industry in Danzhai County started early, and in 2009 it was selected as a national key tea-producing county. Unfortunately, due to old technology, low output and weak brand, the local tea industry has been developing inefficiently and extensively for a long time.

Industrial revitalization is the top priority for comprehensive rural revitalization. In 2018, relying on the opportunity of targeted assistance, the assistance working group actively connected with high-quality market resources and coordinated the construction of poverty alleviation tea gardens in Danzhai County. After the project was implemented, agricultural technology experts stayed in the fields to give lectures and provide practical guidance, driving the county to reconstruct the industrial chain: contiguous construction of standardized tea gardens, introduction of sophisticated processing lines, and creation of intelligent workshops. Relying on the East-West collaboration funds, a 2,500-acre smart tea garden was built in Mazhai Village, integrating digital modules to promote intelligent prevention and control of pests and diseases, precise management of water and fertilizer, and full traceability of products.

In 2023, Wu Rendong returned to his hometown to start a business. It was no longer limited to self-production and sales, but was oriented to the market and implemented the project of "claiming an acre of tea garden and helping rural revitalization". "One ridge of land can also be claimed. After customers receive new tea, they can scan the code to view the entire picking and processing process of the exclusive tea garden in real time." Today, Wu Rendong's company's annual sales exceed 6 million yuan, driving more than 900 villagers to increase their income.

The changes in Mazhai Village are the epitome of the transformation of the county's tea industry: Danzhai County's tea gardens cover an area of ​​121,900 acres, cultivating 57 tea enterprises and 28 cooperatives; the total tea output value in 2025 will exceed 1.2 billion yuan, covering 68 villages in 6 towns, benefiting 38,000 people. "The regional public brand of 'Danzhai Cloud Selenium Tea' has been established, bidding farewell to the extensive development of small workshops." said Long Yongsheng, director of the Danzhai County Tea Development Center.

With tea as the driving force, Danzhai County has built a characteristic industrial system of "one main and two auxiliary". The blueberry planting area exceeds 30,000 acres, and the number of Chinese medicinal materials reaches 96,900 acres. Derivatives such as tea meals, blueberry wine, and traditional Chinese medicine health care products have emerged, and the agricultural product processing and conversion rate has increased from 18.4% in 2018 to 67.1% in 2025.

Integration breaks the circle and realizes the dual realization of culture and ecology

Today’s Kala Village in Longquan Town is famous for its cultural tourism. Climbing up the bluestone stairs and passing through several doors, you will find a silver jewelry shop, a batik shop, and a Miao embroidery shop one after another.

Danzhai County is home to 90% ethnic minorities and has 31 national and provincial intangible cultural heritage items, as well as 32 national-level traditional villages and villages with Chinese ethnic minority characteristics. How to transform the "soft power" of national culture into the "hard support" for comprehensive rural revitalization?

Fusion is a new attempt.

With the support of assistance funds, Wang Guochun, the representative inheritor of the provincial intangible cultural heritage Miao silver jewelry forging skills, came to Kala Village to revitalize 40 abandoned stilted buildings and build a "Silversmith Village" intangible cultural heritage gathering platform. "National culture is not only spiritual wealth, but also a transformable resource." Driven by Wang Guochun, "Silversmith Village" has attracted dozens of intangible cultural heritage resources to settle in, integrating production, display, experience, and consumption. It receives 200,000 tourists annually and has a comprehensive output value of over 10 million yuan. Zhao Yu, the first secretary in the village, lamented: "The per capita annual income of villagers has increased by more than 5,000 yuan. Deep integration has allowed the culture to be seen and remembered."

The national culture is colorful and the natural ecology is unique. Each village in Danzhai County explores differentiated development paths based on its advantages.

Shiqiao Village, Nangao Township, Danzhai County, has strange karst landforms and dense paleontological fossils. Two years ago, Jin Weilong, who came here from Zhejiang, transferred more than 20 acres of wasteland along the river to build a "Dream Butterfly Garden". Here, ancient papermaking is combined with geological studies, and immersive courses such as hand-making, fossil excavation, and wild camping have attracted attention, and short videos account for 90% of the traffic. With the increase in tourists, Shiqiao Village has successively built geological research bases, themed B&Bs, and outdoor camping sites. The industrial chain of food, housing, tourism and education has gradually taken shape, and more than 30 villagers have found employment at their doorsteps.

By making excellent integration articles, Danzhai County's unique resources will shine with new brilliance and accelerate their transformation into economic development advantages. From January to August this year, Danzhai County received 2.3335 million domestic tourists, a year-on-year increase of 12.98%. The cultural tourism industry has become a pillar industry in the county.

Endogenously driven, rural land unleashes its potential

On the bank of East Lake in Danzhai County, Yunshang Town is built near the water. Hundreds of residential buildings are integrated with the mountains, and there are all kinds of intangible cultural heritage courtyards, boutique inns, cinemas and theaters, etc., where simplicity and fashion meet.

This 4A-level scenic spot, which opened in July 2017, has grown rapidly with the help of Baoxian County, a caring enterprise. Only half a year after its opening, it has ranked among the top tourist attractions in a single scenic spot in Guizhou Province. After the transition period, the operating rights will be gradually transferred to the local area.

Faced with periodic fluctuations in the number of tourists, Guizhou Danzhai Yunshang Town Cultural Tourism Co., Ltd. has been looking for ways to solve the problem after taking over the town. "You can't just rely on spending money, you have to rely on operations to retain people." Zhang Kun, the company's general manager, said that after repositioning, it will link up with surrounding villages and research bases to enrich the experience with intangible cultural heritage performances, themed night tours, and travel and wellness. "Slow down, stay, and stay" has become a new operating philosophy.

With integrity and innovation, the local operation team explores, and the cultural depth and quality of life of Yunshang Town are increasingly highlighted. Since its opening, the town has received more than 40 million tourists.

Self-efforts are inseparable from continuous support. Since 2016, the Audit Office has selected five rounds of cadres to take root in Danzhai, coordinate various assistance resources, and make breakthroughs one by one in key areas such as infrastructure, specialty industries, and human settlements. Since the poverty alleviation, assistance units have trained more than 2,000 grassroots cadres, industry leaders, and technical experts in Danzhai. The transformation from "external blood transfusion" to "self-production of blood", this local force that cannot be taken away, is the greatest confidence for normalized assistance.

Starting this year, regular assistance will be included in the overall implementation of the comprehensive rural revitalization strategy. Standing at a new starting point, Danzhai County pays more attention to the organic combination of external resource support and internal capacity improvement, changing from "passive recipient" to "active development".

The deeper transformation is in the human heart. Jiashi Village, Paidiao Town, Danzhai County, was once a deeply impoverished village, and is now among the first batch of rural revitalization demonstration villages in the county. Before the Spring Festival this year, 16 members of the Foreign Affairs Party jointly wrote to the village party branch, hoping to return to their hometowns to seek common development. "This heavy trust shows that the villagers have completely gotten rid of the ideological baggage of 'waiting and hoping'." Talking about this joint letter, Wang Mingke, secretary of the village party branch, said.