The Chinese village where half its residents are under 35

In the second of a two-part series on China's rural revitalisation drive, CNA visits Lizu village in Zhejiang province, where young people are setting up shop rather than leaving.

LIZU, China: A trendy cafe in Lizu village serving specialty coffee infused with essential oils now occupies retired teacher Fang Hao Tong's former home.

Showing CNA around, the 77-year-old pointed to where a manure pit and pig pen once stood, recalling how his family had to sleep upstairs in summer to escape the mosquitoes.

Taking in the cafe's carpeted floors, artwork and soft background music, he said he could hardly believe how much the place had changed.

"This spot is low-lying, and the ground gets really damp. It was all dilapidated, and housing was scarce," he said.

This transformation is just one of many in Lizu, a centuries‑old village in Zhejiang province that has become a model for China’s rural revitalisation drive.

The strategy was first introduced at the Chinese Communist Party's 19th National Congress in 2017.

Last year, China unveiled a comprehensive rural revitalisation plan running through 2027, with goals including boosting agricultural development and narrowing the urban-rural divide.

Lizu was once nicknamed "water buffalo horn village", a reference to the narrowing tip of a buffalo horn and a metaphor for its dead-end prospects. It was poor, isolated and regarded as among the most run-down villages in the province.

For Lizu, its transformation began in 2003, when rural renewal plans were still at a provincial level. It started with improvements to basic infrastructure before expanding into commercial development.

Today, about half of its residents are aged 35 or younger.

Some 340 young entrepreneurs run around 100 businesses there – from traditional handicrafts to general stores – generating about 70 million yuan (US$10.4 million) in annual revenue.

At the same time, elderly residents still live in the village – the oldest among them is said to be 102 years old.

“I think young people coming to the countryside to start their businesses is a very good thing,” said Fang.

“This shows they don’t rely on others, waiting for a salary, just like our Pumpkin,” he said, referring to the young entrepreneur who rents part of his current home for her eatery business.

They help one another with household chores, and he shares fresh ingredients from his farm with her.

ALTERNATIVE PATH

Jin Liu Yun Yi was working as a schoolteacher in Hangzhou, before returning to her hometown Yiwu, the city in which the village is located.

After five months of renovations, she opened Coeur Et, a French‑inspired cafe and activity hub.

"Teaching work is stable, but you can see exactly how your life will unfold," she said.

"I'm 30 now and thought that I still have 10 years to try different things. I might get it wrong, or right, though there are no guarantees. I just love that feeling."

Jin counts herself among a growing group of young Chinese people whose mindsets have shifted.

"They no longer believe big cities are the only source of opportunity. They now believe they can put down roots and thrive through hard work, even in smaller places," she said.

"Many are returning to their hometowns, which have received substantial support and seen tangible progress."

University graduate Grace Fang was working a demanding "996" schedule – working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week – at an internet company in Beijing.

Today, she runs an incense shop from her grandmother's family home, making pendants and accessories using Chinese herbs.

"I moved to a big city, where I encountered all kinds of people living different lives. Even in Beijing, you can still find villages."

“Essentially, I found an alternative path for my life. If things don’t turn out that successful, or if I run into many unforeseen challenges that weren’t what I expected, I can always return to my old way of life.”

Her biggest challenge was overcoming others’ perceptions.

"They wondered whether, being so young, I was just idling my time away in the countryside. That was how things were at first, but not anymore. They see I'm doing pretty well and are very encouraging."

IS LIZU’S SUCCESS REPLICABLE?

While each village has different characteristics, the principle behind a successful rural renewal project is the same, said Zhao Deyu, a professor at Fudan University's School of Social Development and Public Policy.

"The driving force behind their success is shared, which is that each village has its own distinctive feature."

For instance, there are villages that focus on homestays, music, baseball, pottery or education, said Zhao, who has travelled across China for the past seven years, visiting villages in different provinces.

For policymakers, renewing a village comes with its own set of challenges.

In many villages, there are long-established, unwritten rules governing the use of public spaces.

Policymakers therefore need to ensure income generated from communal spaces is distributed fairly among residents, said Zhao.

On a broader level, early signs of villages creating unhealthy competition have emerged, where a village copies the business model of another if it's proven successful.

"If tourists come to one village, and see that the next village also has the same features, that would disperse business and everyone would struggle to turn a profit."

To address this, authorities have introduced planning frameworks that encourage villages to develop distinct offerings.

HALF A MILLION VILLAGES

China has about 500,000 administrative villages, and about 260,000 of them are marked for improvement works.

It would be "very unrealistic" to expect all of China's villages to achieve revitalisation, said Zhao.

Instead, as selected villages become revitalised, resettlement can take place.

For instance, some villages may only be left with a handful of seniors, which is unsafe for the residents, as well as inefficient for village operations.

These elderly residents, along with farmers from more sparsely populated villages, can be relocated to renewed areas.

Land from those depopulated villages can then be put to new use.

Back in Lizu, Fang's daily routine includes taking a 30-minute walk to his farm and cooking meals with his wife.

He has never considered moving to the city because Lizu is the place where his parents and siblings fought for a living.

He recounts the village’s history, myths and legends, and recalls how he once looked after his students’ infant siblings so the children could get their homework done.

With Lizu now flourishing, he has one wish for the village’s development.

He hopes to see some of the old buildings that were demolished – places that were part of his childhood – rebuilt one day.