China's Shibadong Village in central China's Hunan Province is marching toward rural revitalization by giving full play to its local conditions, promoting local employment and increasing incomes for the residents.
The village gets its name from 18 natural karst caves located nearby. Set in the highlands of the Wuling Mountains at an altitude of about 700 meters above sea level, the village overlooks a valley and green sloping terrain. More than a decade ago, the village was still an isolated place with more than half of its 200 households impoverished.
Shibadong Village has experienced a profound transformation due to targeted poverty alleviation.
Huayuan County in Xiangxi Miao and Tujia Autonomous Prefecture has given full play to the leveraging role of Shibadong Village by linking seven surrounding villages to create a rural revitalization demonstration zone.
A garment factory covering more than 2,100 square meters has been built to meet the employment demands of villagers in the Shibadong demonstration zone.
"With an investment of over six million yuan (about 827,000 U.S. dollars), we have started recruiting the first batch of workers from Feb 5, and nearly 200 people have joined our factory," said Mo Haiyuan, director of the garment factory.
"The garment factory in Shibadong demonstration zone was established by Shuanglong Town's government to address development challenges based on our own practical situation. Since its implementation, this project has effectively promoted local employment in various villages of the demonstration zone, stabilized income growth for the villagers, and facilitated rural revitalization," said Long Jinyu, a staff member of the local government.
In 2014, a total of 54 embroiderers in the village established the Shibadong Village Miao Embroidery Cooperative. Initially, the sales of Miao embroidery were not very promising. To assist the cooperative in expanding its market and building a brand, the local government proactively collaborated with universities and design companies to create cultural and creative products of Miao embroidery.
Through collective efforts, the embroidery industry in the village has gradually developed into a more scaled, standardized, and branded industry. Miao embroidery has enabled over 350 rural women from Shibadong and surrounding villages to achieve employment.
"Now our Miao embroidery has been diversified into various styles, such as bookmarks, laptop sleeves, and earrings. Our Miao embroidery is now boarding the high-speed train, leaving the mountains, and heading towards the world," said Shi Shunlian, a villager of Shibadong Village.
Chinese village marches toward rural revitalization by giving full play to local conditions
