Zeng Hualing, a 23-year-old woman from Hongsha Village in Jinjiang District, Chengdu, worked for only a year in the city before she decided to move back to her village in 2003. She explained: "Life here is more comfortable and convenient."

Zeng worked at Zhongyou Shopping Mall in the city earning about 1,000 yuan (US$121) a month.

While she was away, her village was given AA national-level scenic spot status in 2003. There are five grades for scenic spots conferred by the China National Tourism Administration, starting from A up to AAAAA.

Zeng decided to head home when her family started a small hotel.

She is satisfied with her life now: "I work as a tourist guide making about 1,000 yuan (US$121) a month. But I can also help my family in the hotel when they are too busy. The money I make now isn't much less than what I made in the city. On top of that, life here is more economical. I don't have to pay rent."

Hongsha Village is also known as Flower Village. Its claim to fame is a little red rose, which is an integral of the village's 300-year-old history.

The local government capitalized on Hongsha's flowery history and gave the village a facelift. All the houses were refurbished. Farmers and government shared the costs of the refurbishment 50-50.

After the facelift, the village played host to the first Chengdu Flower Expo in 2003, an event that attracted many foreign investors, including Speedling Incorporated, an American based leading agricultural enterprise. Other big companies set up base there, bringing with them expertise, advanced technologies and management know-how.

Some of the houses also double up as hotels, teahouses, bars and cafes, catering to domestic and foreign visitors.

To drive standards up, the city government implemented a star rating for the various establishments. Fanhuashu, for example, is a two-star teahouse. But just two years ago, it was a little shop that served tea for 0.5 yuan (US$0.06) a cup. These days, customers can expect to pay at least 10 yuan (US$1.21) for a cup of tea.

In neighboring Jiangjiayan Village, farmers also enjoy a higher standard living thanks to their vegetables. The village covers an area of 2.35 square kilometers and is home to about 3,248 people or 1,130 families who were traditionally reliant on subsistence farming. 

In 2003, the local government decided to reform the survival mode of the villagers. They introduced a program called "Jiangs' Vegetable Plot." Under the program, city dwellers rent fields from farmers for 800 yuan (US$96.7) per fen (about 66.7 square meters) a year. The city dwellers visit the plot anytime they wish, helping with the farm work, enjoying the fresh air and chatting with the farmers.

According to the local government, the 800 yuan (US$96.7) rental is distributed in the following way: 200 yuan (US$24.2) used for the construction of infrastructure including sewage treatment plants, roads and dykes; 100 yuan (US$12.1) to buy seeds, tools and fertilizers; 200 yuan (US$24.2) as the rental paid to the farmers; and the remaining 300 yuan (US$36.3) as a caretaker fee paid to the farmer who tends to the fields.

Before the program was introduced, every mu (about 666.7 square meters) of farmland would yield profits of about 3,000 yuan (US$362.5) to 4,000 yuan (US$483.3) a year. The program has boosted profits to approximately 5,000 yuan (US$604.1) per mu per year, at half the labor costs.

Zeng Guanhua and his family of four own 2.4 mu (about 1,600 square meters) of land. They used to earn about 12,400 yuan (US$1,500) a year. They've rented out all of their land and make 12,000 yuan (US$1,450) on rental alone. Part of their family home is rented out as a hotel for 40,000 yuan (US$4,833) a year. Their yearly earnings are now more than 50,000 yuan (US$6,041).

In January 2005, villagers decided to register their own trademark. They engaged lawyers and registered "Jiangs' Vegetable Plot Agricultural Cooperative."

Jinjiang District occupies an area of about 16.31 square kilometers. The five villages in the district are all part of a program developed by the local government. Each part of the program capitalizes on a distinctive feature of the village, like flowers in Hongsha, or plum trees in Xingfu, for example.

Two villages are still under construction and should be ready by the end of this year.

During a forum on the construction of a harmonious society that was held from July 10 to 11 in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, Cai Fang, a senior researcher with the Institute of Population Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said that the integration of rural and urban areas is different from urbanization.

Chengdu's experiments show that increased cooperation between rural and urban communities help narrow the economic divide between them.

"The achievements in Jinjiang District prove that the development of rural areas cannot happen without the participation of urbanites," said Niu Fengrui, a researcher with the CASS' Institute of Environment and Development Studies.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Chen Lin, July 15, 2005)