Xinhua Headlines: Avant-garde art enlivens rural China amid revitalization drive
* For more than five years, Caijiapo, a once-impoverished village, has been turned into an art lab, a tourist destination and an ideal location for young entrepreneurs through an infusion of artistic activity.
* Thanks to the art experiment, Caijiapo's annual per capita income reached 21,000 yuan last year, and its total annual tourism revenue exceeded 14 million yuan.
* In recent years, China has been calling for efforts to advance rural revitalization across the board and ceaselessly strive for the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.
XI'AN, July 27 (Xinhua) -- People wearing straw hats painted with images of stray cats or sunflowers are popping up in the wheat fields of northwest China, taking the place of farmers who can finally sit back and relax after the summer harvest.
For more than five years, over 100 artists have traveled to Caijiapo, a once-impoverished village nestled in the Qinling Mountains, about 50 kilometers from Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi. Little by little, they have turned this village into an art lab, a tourist destination and an ideal location for young entrepreneurs through an infusion of artistic activity.
This file photo shows an art creation in a wheat field at Caijiapo Village in Huyi District, Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua)
This five-year art "experiment" has opened a special path for China's rural modernization, according to Yu Ningkai, director of the Rural Development Institute of the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences.
"On one hand, it allows relatively regressive rural areas to cultivate multiple industries and increase farmers' incomes," Yu said. "On the other hand, it preserves the village's landscape and keeps the Chinese people's idyllic dreams alive."
He said that art draws many urbanites to the countryside -- a place where humans and nature coexist in harmony. It also promotes the common prosperity of urban and rural areas, and opens a new path for China's rural modernization.
In recent years, China has been calling for efforts to advance rural revitalization across the board and ceaselessly strive for the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. Accordingly, numerous Chinese villages have proactively developed industries with their own characteristics.
ART FESTIVAL IN WHEAT FIELDS
In Caijiapo Village, artworks are seen everywhere: portraits pop up in wheat fields, and murals and graffiti are painted on the outer walls of houses -- and even on a water tower. A tree-shaped windmill is titled "Flourishing Flowers," and a giant glass installation reflects the mountain scenery.
Local Chen Meng said that Caijiapo had its first profound encounter with the arts in 2018, when the village hosted the first Guanzhong Mangba Arts Festival.
During that festival, artists placed tall flagpoles in the wheat fields, on top of which hung huge portraits of the owners of the fields. "It symbolized the relationship between people and their land, and paid tribute to the vast number of Chinese farmers," Chen said.
In the 1990s, the villagers lived tough and simple lives. They walked on dirt roads and fired up clay ovens to cook and heat their homes. They worked hard to make ends meet, and had no time for the arts. In the early 2010s, many people of working age quit the village to look for work, leaving behind mostly children and the elderly.