Discovering roots

A participant in the success of the Longwan Lake demonstration area has been Tian Bin, 49, a resident of Sunjiazhuang village.

After graduating from the Qingdao School of Arts and Crafts with a degree in daily product design in 1994, Tian worked as an interior designer.

After more than a decade working away from his hometown, Tian felt a pull toward his roots.

"At that time I wasn't sure what to do, so I returned to the countryside where I was born," Tian said.

In 2013, he and a few friends rented an abandoned granary in Jiashantou village, around 3 kilometers from Tian's home village, with the aim of converting it into an arts space.

"When we first arrived at this granary, it was overgrown with weeds, with crumbling walls, presenting a scene of decay. But this place made me feel like this might be where I would strive for the rest of my life," Tian said.

Over the next five years, Tian painstakingly renovated the granary. Today, it houses an art experience center for sketching, a rural museum, a restaurant, a library and a multimedia cultural exchange conference room, attracting artists, students and the public for creative inspiration.

"Initially, it was meant to be a meeting place for designers to discuss design concepts. But as more friends visited the granary, discussions on rural development initiatives began to take shape," Tian said.

"We gradually realized that although villages around Longwan Lake had the natural advantages of green mountains and clear waters, the resources such as idle residential land and local specialty products were not effectively utilized," he said.

Recognizing the untapped potential of the region's natural beauty and resources, Tian's efforts caught the attention of the county government who proactively engaged with him and his team, seeking to explore new avenues of development through the partnership model.

Through discussions and collaboration, Tian found alignment between the direction of rural vitalization and the aspirations of his team.

He established a cultural development company in 2018 to capitalize on the ecological resources of the mountainous region to vitalize the villages.

With government support in infrastructure development, including roads, water supplies, drainage systems and village-wide computer networks, Tian's team embarked on a journey to breathe new life into neglected structures.

"The government supported our project by connecting two villages with a 5-km road, forming a cohesive area. It now takes less than five minutes to travel between the two villages," Tian said.

While repurposing around 50 disused houses into education bases, libraries and homestays, Tian has integrated local traditions and agricultural practices. Educational activities like landscape drawing, woodworking and clay work are offered at these bases, fostering vibrant cultural exchanges.

During this summer vacation, camps were held where activities such as traditional woodworking, pottery, tie-dyeing, batik and paper-cutting were offered, attracting groups of students to the area.

"While the government invests in infrastructure, we invest in industry, creating an incubator that transforms culture and art into productivity. Here, artists bring their ideas and ideals to life, transforming the villages into an artistic hub," said Tian.