The Agriculture-Tourism Integration to Promote the Rural Revitalization: Taking Tea Industry-Agriculture-Tourism in Lishui City as an Example

Liqin YE, Weibiao ZHONG, Bin XU, Xuejie XIA, Zhongxiong LAI

1. Pingyang County Specialty Station, Pingyang 325400, China; 2. Zhejiang Zijiu Culture Co., Ltd., Pingyang 325400, China; 3. Wenzhou Tea Culture Research Society, Wenzhou 325000, China; 4. Institute of Horticultural Plant Bioengineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China

Abstract This paper introduces the typical and representative villages, towns and projects in Longquan, Suichang and Songyang in Lishui City, deeply investigates and researches the agriculture-tourism development model of "one specialty for one county, one brand for one place" in Lishui City, and summarizes the experience and lesson of rural revitalization to promote the agriculture-tourism integration, which can be used as a reference for Pingyang and other counties and districts.

Key words Agriculture-tourism integration, Rural revitalization, Tea industry-agriculture-tourism

1 Introduction

From September 1 to 4, 2021, according to the needs of rural revitalization and beautiful village work in Pingyang, the Agricultural and Rural Bureau of Pingyang County organized a delegation to Longquan, Suichang, and Songyang in Lishui City to carry out an investigation and study with the theme of "Rural Revitalization and Beautiful Countryside Construction". Under the meticulous reception arrangement of Lishui, the delegation observed and studied the local typical and representative villages, towns and projects, exchanged topics with Lishui, and learned and absorbed the relevant advanced experience and excellent practices of the local area. The investigation is summarized as follows.

2 Longquan: doing a good job in the culture of "three treasures", developing global tourism and agricultural sightseeing

2.1 Basic situation of Longquan City

Longquan City, as an important commercial region on the border of Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, has a good reputation as an important node of business and tourism. With a population of 290 000, Longquan covers an area of 3 059 km, with 4 streets, 8 towns and 7 townships. Longquan City is famous as "capital of celadon and land of swords". It is also the birthplace of Lentinus edodes cultivation in the world and the home of Ganoderma lucidum.

2.2 What we have seen and heard about Longquan

2.2.1

Longquan Sword Museum. The special museum of Chinese sword culture integrates the functions of collection, scientific research, publicity and education. It covers an area of more than 3 000 mand has a total of 6 exhibition halls, displaying and introducing nearly 300 swords with their own characteristics, ancient and modern, both at home and abroad. Longquan sword is famous at home and abroad for its sharpness, rigidity and softness, cold light and skillful decoration. Longquan sword forging skill was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.

2.2.2

Longquan Celadon Museum. The new celadon museum in Longquan is the largest professional celadon museum in China and the exhibition place of Longquan celadon, the intangible cultural heritage of the world. The total building area of celadon museum is 10 000 m, which is mainly divided into three functional areas: Longquan celadon museum, celadon master garden and international ceramic village.

2.2.3

Lanju Agricultural Sightseeing Garden. The sightseeing garden is an ecological entrepreneurial park with the integration of agriculture and tourism, which is located in the economic development zone of Longquan City, with a total area of 28.07 ha. The processing zone is divided into the intensive production and processing area of edible fungi, the intensive and deep processing area of animal products, and the intensive processing area of tea, grain and oil. At present, there are 15 enterprises entering the park, with an investment of nearly 400 million yuan, truly realizing the deep integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

2.3 Lessons from Longquan investigation and study

2.3.1

Cultural confidence comes from details. The local area has a sense of honor in the process of reception and introduction, very familiar with swords, celadon and edible fungi. The details from the architectural style to the decoration along the road to the dining table brand are all promoting Longquan specialties and scenic spots. It shows that Longquan tourism promotion is well in place, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is worth learning.

2.3.2

The agriculture-tourism integration and ecological entrepreneurial park construction. It concentrates agricultural enterprises, makes livestock excrement and waste from bacterial cultivation become fertilizers for other plants, and there are policy subsidies for the production and use of organic fertilizers, lightening farmers’ burden. The farmers are more willing to use organic fertilizers, and the crops produced are more environmentally friendly. The convenience of transportation, the reduction of cost, the improvement of quality, the improvement of environment and the formation of scale are all worthy of deep consideration.

2.3.3

Novel development of tea industry. It spends millions to buy out the "Longquanhong" brand. It focuses on building a 2-km Shangcha Street. In order to attract owners to move in, the government makes them enjoy rent free for the first two years and halve the rent for the next three years. For four consecutive years from 2017 to 2020, the main leaders of the municipal Party committee and municipal government led a team to Tongmuguan in Wuyi Mountain for a week-long training by eating, living together and making tea together to get the "True Sutra". These practices reflect the government’s importance and determination to develop the tea industry, as well as the commendable quality of innovation and responsibility.

3 Suichang: creating boutique mountain home hotel, creating a characteristic red town and making use of famous person culture (Tang Xianzu)

Suichang is the second stop of the investigation, focusing on the agricultural tourism.

3.1 Basic situation of Suichang

Suichang County covers an area of 2 539 kmand has 20 townships with a total population of more than 225 000. Suichang is one of the 100 tea base counties in China, where there is not only historical famous tea such as Sanjing Maofeng and Taixu Miaolu, tribute tea in the Ming Dynasty, but also innovative famous tea, which won the third International Famous Tea Competition Gold Award and the Japanese Grand Award "Longgu Beauty". Tang Xianzu, known as "Shakespeare of the East", wrote the famous cultural treasure "Peony Pavilion" in Suichang, and the beautiful and elegant Kunqu Opera "Shi Lian Shi Fan" is known as the "Green Sea in the South of the Yangtze River".

3.2 What we have seen and heard about Suichang

3.2.1

Leling·Qishanxiayin Home Hotel. The home hotel is located in Longyang Township, Suichang County, and is jointly built by Shenzhen Leling Company and international architect Ke Wei. A picturesque existence, it is like meeting the modern Peach Blossom Garden written by Tao Yuanming. It currently has 14 houses, a total of 35 rooms, all in the name of Jin Yong’s novels, with natural harmony without losing classics and memories. From the traditional farmhouse of "wild luxury in the countryside" to the exquisite guest rooms, the original "hollow village" is now crowded with people.

3.2.2

Red Ancient Town in Wangkou Village. Wangkou Village has built 1 935 Culture and Travel Zone and launched 41 small shops with revolutionary characteristics, and supported the construction of the corresponding hardware facilities for the integration of food, accommodation and transportation in the cadre training center in southwestern Zhejiang Province, and it has received more than 20 000 people from various classes such as cadre training, study travel and Party member education and training since 2018. It has achieved economic benefits of more than 11 million yuan. In the same year, it was listed as the "Yangtze River Delta Regional Tourism System Party Spirit Education Base".

3.2.3

Yuxi Village in Shilian Town. The main industries in Yuxi Village are rice and tea. The village has 492 households and a population of 1 509, with a per capita income of nearly 6 500 yuan. It mainly encourages farming and attracts tourists by holding a series of farming activities, such as Banchun Quannong Festival, and the national intangible cultural heritage Kunqu Opera Shifan has been continuously promoted and developed in various activities. Thousands of years of ancient camphor, quiet running water and hard farming give this village away from the hustle and bustle and close to nature a unique charm.

3.2.4

Dongfeng Village in North Miaogao Street. The village has a total of 967 people from 350 households, with a per capita income of 10 660 yuan in 2013. The ancient trees of the village are lush, the courtyards are scattered, and the environment is beautiful. The industry is mainly based on the cultivation of tea, bamboo, green vegetables and the breeding of poultry and livestock. Dongfeng Village has superior geographical conditions, with convenient traffic; at the same time, as a village gathered by ethnic minorities, it has a unique cultural temperament, attracting an endless stream of tourists.

3.3 Lessons from Suichang investigation and study

In order to develop agriculture-tourism, we need the operation of big brands and huge capital, strategic vision and high-end aesthetics. Tourism development is combined with local celebrities, and Tang Xianzu’s "Peony Pavilion" has promoted Kun Opera Shifan. Only when there is a theme and integration in rural construction can it have its own characteristics.

4 Songyang: deep integration of tea, culture, agriculture and tourism, all people’s participation in the (tea) industry chain and development of creative products

Songyang is the last stop of this investigation, and it is also the most prominent stop with the theme of tea.

4.1 Basic situation of Songyang

There are 240 000 people in Songyang County, of which more than 97 000 are engaged in tea-related industries, and 50% of farmers’ income comes from the tea industry. The tea planting area of the county is 8 786.67 ha, and the pickable tea garden area is 8 420 ha, with a total output of 15 700 t in 2020, and a total output value of 1.576 billion yuan. The average output value of tea garden is more than 165 000 yuan/ha, which leads the whole province. The China Tea Merchants Conference & Songyang Silver Monkey Tea Festival, which has been held for 12 consecutive years, has become one of the "Top Ten Models of Chinese Tea", and has been rated as one of the "Top Ten Most Influential Agricultural Festivals in Zhejiang Province" and the "Top 50 Chinese Agricultural Festivals".

4.2 What we have seen and heard about Songyang

4.2.1

High-quality Yunduan Mijing Home Hotel. The home hotel is located in Xikeng Village, Songyang County, Lishui City, with a total of 14 guest rooms in 3 courtyards. In accordance with the characteristics of the local ancient village, it is rebuilt from several ancient dwellings with excellent viewing location in the ancient village. The first floor has an area of 300 m, with coffee shops, bars and viewing platforms, and nearly 200 mof open-air bar on the second floor has a unique story-sharing theater of "Late Night Bar". There is both seclusion and hustle and bustle deep in the mountains. According to statistics, the annual utilization rate of the room is up to 80%, and it needs to be booked one month in advance.

4.2.2

Damushan Cycling Tea Garden. Damushan Tea Garden, as the largest cycling tea garden in China, integrates tea garden sightseeing, tea cultural experience and sports leisure. The tea garden covers a total area of 5 333.33 ha, including the core area of 200 ha, with a cycling track of 8.3 km and a professional track of 7 km. As a national 4 A-level tourist scenic spot, it was awarded the national tea tour gold medal route and the provincial "most beautiful garden". The Damushan Tea Garden Visitor Center in Xinxing Town, a town with provincial characteristics, has built a tea museum and become a gold business card of Songyang tea. The museum covers an area of 1 000 mand has two floors, showing the story of Songyang tea from five aspects: tea history, tea ceremony, tea custom, tea industry and tea tour.

4.3 Lessons from investigation and study in Songyang: making full use of tea

4.3.1

Small tea forms a large industry and ensures the livelihood of the people. More than 20 000 people are directly employed and more than 8 000 "Songyang tea masters" are cultivated. Tea has become a "golden leaf" for people in Songyang to increase their income and become rich.

4.3.2

Small tea forms a big market and promotes big integration. The Zhenan tea market has been established, attracting more than 4 000 tea businessmen from all over the country to gather in the market. The sales network has spread over more than 20 provinces and cities across the country, and it has become "the first market of green tea in the country" and the place where the national green tea price index is published, forming a "small production area, big market" pattern. Tea culture is deeply integrated with Taoist culture, ploughing culture and health-preserving culture, which greatly broadens the development space of tea industry.

5 The experience of rural revitalization promoted by the agriculture-tourism integration for reference to the industrial development of Pingyang

Lishui has done an excellent job in consolidating the primary industry, merging the secondary industry, expanding the tertiary industry, prolonging the industrial chain, building industrial clusters, creating a community of interests for farmers, developing global tourism, promoting the transformation of the "two mountains", and exploring and utilizing ecological and cultural resources. To see and learn is not the main purpose of the investigation, and it is necessary to selectively absorb experience and practices in the light of one’s own actual situation.

(i) Whether it is the celadon and sword of Longquan or tea from Songyang or Tang Xianzu of Suichang, the local area has a sense of honor in the process of reception and introduction. Pingyang should fully learn its accurate publicity, and promote soft self-confidence in culture. It should focus on publicizing Pingyang Huang Gongwang or Pingyang Huang Tang to make it deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

(ii) Characteristic industries focus on intensification, whether it is the intensification of agricultural industry, the clustering of home hotel industry, or the centralization of stores in Shangcha Street, all highlight the advantages after intensification: the convenience of management, the reduction of cost, the improvement of quality, the improvement of environment and the formation of scale.

(iii) Although in terms of volume, Pingyang’s agriculture is smaller than the secondary and tertiary industries, the leaders in recent years have attached great importance to agricultural policy. It can be said that the policy environment of Pingyang is no worse than that of the subjects investigated. However, due to the shortcomings in flexibility, humanization and daring to take responsibility, the dividend of the policy in Pingyang failed to benefit the public.

The departments of agriculture, culture, tourism, industry, and commerce in Pingyang should cooperate with each other to further promote the implementation of the strategy of "rural revitalization", create "beautiful countryside", and make new measures and achievements in the development of "beautiful economy" to achieve a comprehensive, coordinated and harmonious development of politics, economy, culture, and so on in Pingyang.