The once desolate and remote villages in China's northernmost and easternmost tips have now transformed into a bustling tourist destination and an internet celebrity fishing village thanks to improved infrastructure.
Shi Ruijuan is an owner of a countryside homestay business in Beiji Village, also known as North Pole Village in the city of Mohe, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Situated at the northernmost part of China, the village is among the coldest places in China, with a meteorological record low of minus 52.3 degrees Celsius.
Running the homestay business for 14 years, Shi said the local government has done its utmost to facilitate the growth of local tourism by building roads and airport over the past decades.
The improved transportation has drawn not only tourists, but also more investment, Shi added.
"I was one of the first in our village to run a homestay business. Back then, there were few tourists. I could only operate for a little over a month each year. At that time, the main problem was the inconvenient transportation as we are in the northernmost part of China. Around 2008, Mohe got an airport and the road to Beiji Village was repaired. Gradually, the number of tourists increased, and now it's peak season all year round. Now our village has attracted a lot of outside investment, and some young people have returned to start businesses. Their arrival has also brought vitality and creativity to Beiji Village," said Shi.
In China's easternmost city Fuyuan of Heilongjiang, local fisherman Lu Xiaoyu's life has taken a different turn through livestreaming.
The internet has brought income to him, and amplified his popularity.
"My hometown Fuyuan is the easternmost part of our motherland. In recent years, the Internet has become fully available. So I can livestream while fishing on the Wusuli River, sharing the fun of fishing with everyone and selling the fish I caught. The network is quite stable," said Lu.
Though Wusuli has an abundance of freshwater fish, the poor transportation impeded local economic development, said Lu.
But things are quite different now. As Lu is busy fishing, his wife is livestreaming by using a smart phone. Lu's life has changed significantly.
Meanwhile, the improved transportation and delivery services have catapulted local residents to higher income and better life.
Now you can see that the fish are selling well in my livestreaming. But this wasn't the case before. Our location is quite remote. It took almost a day to drive from Harbin to here, making fish transportation challenging. So we usually sent the fish to Jiamusi and other cities within our province. We now have convenient transportation. We have trains and even an airport. The dirt road has been turned into a cement one, and express delivery has reached our village. Fish sales are yielding higher incomes. Not only my family, but the entire village has changed a lot," said Lu.
Improved infrastructure a game changer for once-desolate villages in northeast China
