(Into the Chinese countryside) "Hollow Village" by Baihua Lake in Guizhou turns into "Digital Village"

China News Service, Guiyang, November 6. Title: "Hollow Village" by Baihua Lake in Guizhou turns into "Digital Village"

China News Service reporter Zhou Yanling

In Gaozhai Village on the bank of Baihua Lake in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, a farmhouse with green tiles and white walls faces an office building with glass curtain walls across the road. On the neat village road, young people carrying computer bags chatted with the villagers from time to time. 29-year-old Zhang Heng rode his girlfriend through the village road, and then the two went to work in the village's cafe and new media company respectively.

"In October 2025, we moved from Guiyang city to the talent apartment in Gaozhai Village." Zhang Heng said in a recent interview with a reporter from China News Service that the working atmosphere in the village is more relaxed, with forests and lake views.

In Gaozhai Village, there are hundreds of young people like Zhang Heng. Some of them are engaged in content creation in digital audio-visual companies, some are engaged in AI data annotation, and some are designing products in cultural and creative workshops. In the early morning, buses full of young people drove into the village; in the afternoon, the village cafes and teahouses were filled with young teams discussing plans.

The forest coverage rate of Gaozhai Village exceeds 70%. It used to be a "hollow village". In November 2023, Guanshan Lake District in Guiyang City was selected into the second batch of national digital rural pilot areas. Gaozhai Village was identified as the core demonstration area of ​​the pilot, and the "Xiaolanshan Digital Cultural Industry Ecological Village" project was launched, which was jointly built by the government, enterprises, and village collectives.

Lin Xiang, secretary of the Party branch of Gaozhai Village, introduced that the village collective invested land and idle houses as shares without destroying the ecology or relocating villagers. It revitalized idle farm houses and land and transformed them into digital workshops, maker courtyards, industrial buildings and shared offices.

In March 2025, the first batch of enterprises settled in Gaozhai Village and began to "work in the village." At present, Gaozhai Village has gathered more than 50 digital audio-visual, artificial intelligence, cultural and creative design companies, etc., and the output value of Xiaolanshan Digital Cultural Industry Eco-Village exceeds 800 million yuan.

"The most important thing when settling in Xiaolanshan is the good ecology formed by the agglomeration of digital industries here." The person in charge of a company that settled in the Xiaolanshan data annotation base said that the base supports renting work stations, and the company is settled in an asset-light manner. There is no need to invest too much in fixed assets, and more energy can be focused on business development.

Data shows that the companies that settled in Gaozhai Village have directly created employment for more than 50 villagers in Gaozhai Village, and indirectly created employment for more than 300 villagers. Many villagers have been trained to become data annotators, cultural and creative assistants, etc. As the agglomeration effect of the digital industry emerges, a group of young people and college students are also attracted to return to their hometowns for employment.

After graduating, Li Yingrui worked in the city for a year, and then returned to Gaozhai Village to work. She said that with the arrival of enterprises, there are cafes, teahouses, canteens, banquet halls, etc. in the village. Life is very convenient and wages are good.

From "Hollow Village" to "Digital Cultural and Creative Village", more than 70 activities have been held in Gaozhai Village. The once deserted village has become lively again, and new and old villagers share the dividends of digital rural development.