(Source:People’s Daily Online)

A village in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has blazed a new trail in waterfall-related tourism, bringing more and more wealth to local villagers.

Detian waterfall (Photo/Tanja Herko)

Detian village, Shuolong township, Daxin county of Guangxi, which is close to China’s border with Vietnam, plays host to Detian waterfall, the world’s second largest cross-border waterfall. In 2014, Ma Chengwu, Party secretary of the village and head of the villagers’ committee, decided to tap the potential of the waterfall and develop tourism featuring bamboo rafting there to lift the village out of poverty.

Later, the village established a tourism company, offering job opportunities to local residents. The company went on to develop more and more services over the years, such as open-air sightseeing tours in electric vehicles, handiworks, and homestay hotels, creating another 200 or more job opportunities. Today, the average monthly income of villagers living in the locality has come to exceed 5,000 yuan (about $718.5).

“The collective income of the village has exceeded 6 million yuan during peak season,” said Gu Chaowei, Party secretary of Shuolong township.

Since the village received fewer tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, however, the income of the villagers has decreased. The village quickly turned instead to online platforms to sell local handicrafts as an alternative to help the villagers.

Gan Ronghui, a local villager, used to sell local specialties in the scenic area, earning a monthly income of 2,000 yuan. “Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, I became unemployed in May. Then the Party secretary helped me find another job in the scenic area, which enables me to earn about 2,500 yuan to 3,000 yuan per month,” she said gratefully.