Reconstruction work vitalizes village in Hohhot

Updated: Aug 8, 2018 Print

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A classical Chinese garden at Naobao village [Photo/northnews]

"After renovation and reconstruction, our village is making a big hit with tourists, " said Gao Ming, director of the publicity department of Naobao village. “Even our young men have become popular with the women in neighboring villages.”

Naobao village is located on the east side of an expressway in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The traffic builds up near the village, especially on weekends.

The village has handled an influx of 800,000 to 1 million tourists since May 1, Gao said.

The new village is a fine example of integrating classical Chinese gardens and European-style buildings.

Many tourists are attracted to the village to escape the summer heat and admire the landscape, such as murmuring waters, stone bridges, elegant pavilions, musical fountains and lighthouses.

However, in the past, the village was poor and was plagued by three major problems – inconvenient transportation, frequent power failures and water shortages. As well, its infrastructure was poor.

Enormous changes have taken place, since Li Hengbiao, a director of the village's administrative committee, took office in 2009.

Li first addressed the central issues through cooperation with the region's electricity power company and water resources department.

He applied to relocate the village and work on the construction of the new village started in August 2013.

He also established a new agricultural cooperative which is focused on developing vegetable planting, animal husbandry and transport. In addition, an industrial park for storage and logistics was also built.

Now the village has developed into a multifunctional village.

There are 66 vegetable greenhouses and one intelligent greenhouse, which serve as an agricultural base as well as a tourist spot.

In addition to facilities for storage and logistics, new projects in the north of the village are also underway, creating 1,500 jobs for the village and its neighboring areas.

The village committee has helped 141 residents from 56 households out of poverty with an annual income of 26,000 yuan ($3802) on average. It is expected that residents can move into the new village at the end of 2018 as all buildings are now being decorated.

The new village will be home to a variety of convenient facilities, including supermarkets, business streets, kindergartens, health centers, visitor centers, libraries and nursing homes.

In 2015, the village was recognized as a national model village for cultural progress.

Established in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the village got its name from a nearby aobao. Naoabao has the same meaning as aobao, which means "a pile of stones" in the Mongolian language and is a place of worship.

The village is shaped by both Mongolian and Shanxi cultures as some families from Shanxi province moved here many years ago.