Ertan Lake shimmers with rippling blue waves, with green mountains on both banks reflected in its waters, painting the ecological backdrop of "Zuo Mountain and Ruo Water"; ancient towns and villages stand against the mountains, with crisscrossing fields and paths, exuding a quiet, nostalgic charm of rural life; meanwhile, the spicy, numbing and savory flavors on the tip of the tongue and the colorful folk customs in the countryside emit the warmth of everyday life unique to "Flavors of Yanbian".

Located on the southwestern border, in the lower reaches of the Yalong River, Yanbian County of Panzhihua City integrates the beauty of nature, the abundance of local products and the elegance of humanity. In recent years, leveraging its unique natural scenery and profound cultural heritage, Yanbian County has vigorously developed the rural culture and tourism industry in line with local conditions. By digging deep into local characteristic culture, carefully creating rural tourism scenarios and refining its food brand, the county has not only provided citizens and tourists with a rich tourism experience, but also driven the vigorous development of the rural economy, injecting new vitality into the countryside.

Pastoral Landscapes: Rural Charm Attracts Visitors

Under the drizzling autumn rain, the green mountains take on a dark green hue, and the countryside remains serene. In Lianhe Village, Hongge Town of Yanbian County, ancient villages seem to be scattered in the embrace of green mountains, with their gray tiles and red walls appearing more primitive and simple under the moisture of autumn rain. Seasonal vegetables waiting to be harvested, blooming dahlias and persimmons turning yellow on the branches make tourists linger and fully immerse themselves in the nostalgia of the countryside.

From blooming pear flowers and ripe peaches/plums to vegetable harvests and yellow persimmons, Lianhe Village offers tourists different experiences throughout the year. Beyond the gifts of nature, folk customs, intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and accommodation experiences such as the "Diejiao Dance", "Vegetables for Books" activity and "ancient village homestays" have also become reasons for attracting tourists to Lianhe Village.

In 2023, Jinfu Inn, a well-known homestay brand in Sichuan, settled in Lianhe Village and jointly built the "Jinfu Inn · Guanshan" one-stop rural tourism experience project with Yanbian County. Over the past year, tourists have flocked here attracted by its reputation. During this year's National Day holiday, all homestay rooms were sold out, with many out-of-town tourists from cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

Lianhe Village has also seen the rise of a number of ancient village homestays run independently by local villagers. Zhou Junli, operator of the "Xiaofeng Succulent Homestay" who returned to her hometown to start a business, said that as her hometown develops rapidly, the ancient village gains increasing popularity and the internal and external transportation facilities are upgraded, she is very optimistic about the prospect of investing and starting businesses in her hometown.

The development of rural culture and tourism in Lianhe Village has not only brought rich experiences to tourists, but also opened up new channels for local villagers to increase their income. The rise of ancient village homestays has enabled villagers to find employment and start businesses right at their doorsteps, and has also attracted more than 30 "new residents" to settle in the village. At the same time, with the increase in the number of tourists, the village's agricultural products have gained a larger sales market, and fruits, vegetables and cultural and creative products are highly favored by tourists.

Industry as the Foundation: Rural Tourism Enriches People

From the Ertan Reservoir Area of the Yalong River to the Sanyuan River Basin in northern Yanbian, agricultural industries such as mangoes, loquats, mulberries, Guosheng Tea and Huimin Tribute Rice have flourished in multiple areas, laying a solid foundation for the development of the rural culture and tourism industry.

Relying on its rich and diverse agricultural product resources, various localities have further promoted the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism, and developed a series of distinctive rural tourism projects. Tourists can not only taste fresh and delicious fruits, but also participate in picking activities in person to experience the joy of rural life.

At the end of August, the annual Huimin Paddy Field Concert was held at the Huimin Tribute Rice Planting Base in Xinglong Village, Huimin Town. The magnificent scenery of 10,000 mu of high-standard farmland and autumn harvest in the fields merged with the melodious music, attracting thousands of tourists. Catering to tourists' yearning for rural life, the local area launched a series of experience activities such as "rice harvesting", "fish catching in paddy fields" and "agricultural product exhibition and sales", and the "100-meter Rural Long Table Banquet" was even in high demand with no seats available.

Why has ordinary farming life become a new product of rural culture and tourism? Behind this is a shift in the development concept of rural culture and tourism.

In the past, people only focused on the output and sales of agricultural products, ignoring the value of culture and tourism as well as experience value. Today, by transforming farming activities into tourism experience projects, tourists can not only feel the charm of rural life, but also bring tangible benefits to villagers. This transformation not only preserves the original style of the countryside, but also endows it with new vitality.

In Yanbian, rural culture and tourism scenarios based on characteristic agricultural products such as Huimin Tribute Rice, Guosheng Tea, mulberries and loquats continue to emerge. These rich agriculture-culture-tourism activities have further stimulated the consumption of agricultural and specialty products and enhanced the attractiveness and influence of Yanbian's rural culture and tourism.

Culture Empowers: Rural Flavors Gain National Fame

"Zuo Mountain and Ruo Water, Flavors of Yanbian". With a long history and the integration of multiple ethnic cultures, Yanbian has inherited a large number of splendid intangible cultural heritage items. Up to now, Yanbian has 46 ICH items on the list of representative ICH items at all levels, among which those represented by "rural flavors" are countless.

In Yanbian and even the entire Panzhihua City, the steaming "Yanbian Lamb Rice Noodles" are uniquely charming and have become a popular "flavor business card" of the region. From rural areas to the county seat, then to the municipal district and further to Chengdu, and even to sales across the country via the Internet, in recent years, Yanbian Lamb Rice Noodles have become a bright "business card" for Yanbian to communicate with the outside world.

Counting the list of "Flavors of Yanbian" characteristic foods, Yanbian Lamb Rice Noodles, Yanbian Youdi Pork (pork preserved in oil), Yanbian Sour Cabbage Fish and Yanbian Barbecue together form a unique food picture of "Flavors of Yanbian". These foods not only carry the local customs of Yanbian, but also become an important factor for tourists to understand and love Yanbian.

It is reported that Yanbian County has dug deep into its cultural treasures, taken food as a medium to promote the in-depth integration of rural culture and tourism, and held themed food festivals and rural culture and tourism experience activities, making the flavors of Yanbian a new engine for the development of rural culture and tourism.

At the same time, Yanbian has also made full use of the characteristic resources of various towns to develop differentiated themed feasts such as "Yanbian Table Feast", "Twelve-Flavor Feast", as well as fruit feasts of Panzhihua, mulberry feasts and truffle feasts. These "rural flavor" themed feasts attract tourists to enjoy Yanbian's delicacies with their taste buds and appreciate the beautiful scenery of Yanbian's mountains and waters with their footsteps.

Today, each delicious "rural flavor" dish of Yanbian is like a window. Carrying the vitality of Yanbian's mountains and waters and the inheritance of ancient flavors, they are telling the story of this small city of Yanbian to more people. (Text/Photos by Xu Yang)