It is an early autumn morning and Dalishu Village in Dandong, northeast China's Liaoning Province, basking in gentle sunshine, looks pretty as a picture. A sparkling river runs through the village, whose name means big pear trees, and in the background loom picturesque mountains covered with green terraces.

It is hard to imagine that Dalishu, where nearly 5,000 people live, was far from idyllic 40 years ago.

When reform and opening up started in 1978, it was still mired in poverty, and one villager, Mao Fengmei, a small-time entrepreneur with a knack for choosing the right businesses, became the first person in the community to amass an annual income of 10,000 yuan ($1,400), a princely sum at the time.

In 1980, Mao became secretary of the Dalishu Branch of the Communist Party of China and the story of the village's turnaround is linked to his plans and efforts.

Mao's first venture in his new capacity was to raise money, which was used by the villagers to buy millet and potatoes from other provinces and sell them on the way home for a profit. This generated a small nest egg to fund other ventures.

In 1985, new state policies to develop the rural economy and deepen reform and opening up gave a boost to trade. The county where the village is located had a stream of traders coming in regularly to do business. But it lacked accommodations and the visitors found it difficult to stay overnight. Mao sensed a business opportunity and started the county's first hotel.

The location was chosen carefully and the five-storied hotel was built near the train station, which guaranteed its rooms were full due to the stream of travelers arriving at the station. The hotel soon became a lucrative business.

The next project started in 1989 when the villagers began to build terraced fields to increase agricultural land. All able-bodied villagers took part in the work. In 10 years, they transformed 20 mountains, building roads, carving out terraced fields and constructing reservoirs. They planted various kinds of fruits and started orchard plantation on the mountains.

As the infrastructure of the village improved, Mao turned his attention to developing tourism. Besides sightseeing, visitors were offered local entertainment and the chance to pick fruit in the orchards. Recognized as a 4A scenic spot by authorities, with 5A being the top accolade, the village attracted nearly 360,000 tourists last year, generating more than 36 million yuan ($5 million) in tourism revenue.

Dalishu has become a demonstration village, showing how to accelerate rural economic development and improve farmers' income.

Mao passed away in 2014 but Dalishu villagers continue to remember his contribution.

Wang Shulan, a villager in Dalishu, runs her own business (GUO SHASHA)

A ready shoulder

Che Shili was the black sheep of the village who spent 14 years in prison for manslaughter. When he was released, he was 37 and was resigned to becoming a social outcast. The 52-year-old recalled how Mao encouraged him to start afresh and helped him open a barbecue restaurant. Heartened by the success of the venture, Che opened a hotel next. Today, it is doing brisk business thanks to the flow of tourists. In addition, his family also sells souvenirs at tourist spots. One of their most popular products is a T-shirt with "Fighter" printed on it. "It denotes the spirit of our village," Che said.

"Mao helped everyone who had a problem. He was like a family member," said Wang Shulan, a 69-year-old for whom Mao found a job in the village factory. After retirement, Wang used her savings to start a bistro. "Mao encouraged us to use our strength and energy to work so that we would have a good life," she said. "He was wise and knew how to make money. His life would have been easier if he had not taken on the responsibilities that he had, but still he did."

Mao Zhengxin is among those inspired by Mao Fengmei's work. He is the son of the former village leader and has taken up his father's mantle. The younger Mao had a steady job as a government official but his father wanted him to return home to work for the progress of the village. Finally, he heeded the call and came back. He is now the Party committee secretary of the village, like his father, an elected post that he has won for three consecutive terms.

A modern agriculture exhibition center in Dalishu, an important part of the village's ecological tourism (GUO SHASHA)

Coping with the cold

Given the natural condition of northeast China, where the winters are long and freezing, how to improve services for local tourism, especially during winter, the slack season for tourism, is a focus of Mao Zhengxin's work.

One initiative is a new exhibition center that has been built in the village to showcase its agricultural modernization. Here visitors can admire advanced agricultural technologies and a variety of trees. The 12,000-square-meter center has heating, staying warm in winter and offering visitors an entertaining activity in the form of fruit picking.

Seeing nearby villages attract tourists with their hot springs, which traditionally are regarded as having medicinal properties due to the minerals dissolved in the water, Dalishu wants to follow suit. Geological experts have been invited to conduct surveys for hot springs and advise on how they could be used to expand tourism.

In addition, greenhouses have been built to grow blueberries and cherries, with the harvest expected to generate handsome profits.

(Reporting from Dandong, Liaoning Province)

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

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