Village in Guiyang balances cultural preservation with rural development

Pengpai village in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, serves as an example for how to boost rural vitalization through culture and tourism integration. [Photo/Guiyang Daily]

Penglai village in Niuchang township, is located in the northern outskirts of Guiyang, approximately 17.5 kilometers from the administrative center of Baiyun district.

The village covers a total area of about 756.92 hectares, with over 480 households and more than 1,600 people. It is a typical Bouyei village, with over 65 percent of the population belonging to ethnic groups. Penglai Fairyland, a national 4A-level scenic area, is located in the village.

If you set off from the old city area of Guiyang and drive north along Renmin Avenue and Yansha Avenue for over 20 kilometers, you will arrive at the Penglai Fairyland scenic area in just over half an hour.

If you travel for another 5 km after passing the Penglai Fairyland stone archway, you will come across a picturesque area surrounded by paddy fields. This is Penglai village – where the core area of the Penglai Fairyland scenic spot is located.

Strolling along the clean and tidy rural paths, you might hear the rhythmic drumming of the Bouyei Penglai Dixi Opera, a provincial intangible cultural heritage item, as villagers practice in the small square in front of the Dixi Opera learning center.

In the past, the village only performed Dixi Opera during the ninth to fifteenth day of the first lunar month to worship their ancestors and welcome the arrival of spring. But times have changed, and Dixi Opera has become a way to pass on traditional ethnic culture and enrich local cultural life.

In May 2007, it was listed as an intangible cultural heritage item of Guizhou, and a learning center and Dixi Opera team were established in the village.

With convenient transportation networks, improved infrastructure, and the introduction of cultural and tourism projects, Niuchang township has become a popular destination for rural tourism, weekend getaways, and leisure activities.

Here, the integration, exchange, unity and development of multiple ethnic groups, including the Han, Bouyei and Miao, can be seen everywhere.

In recent years, Penglai village has established a number of economic development companies and tourism development companies, exploring the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism to strengthen the village's collective economy, boost villagers' incomes, and promote prosperity. Many villagers have also begun to venture into fruit picking, agritainment, homestays, and other industries.