Picture this 🌄: rolling bamboo hills, the same ones that starred in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, bathed in sunrise glow. Welcome to Anji, a small county in eastern China on the Chinese mainland, where green dreams became reality.
Two decades ago, Anji’s scene was all grit and grind. Mines and cement plants churned day and night, leaving workers like Pan Chunlin—once a miner, now a guesthouse host—covered in soot like pandas 🐼. Young locals left in droves, chasing cleaner air in big cities.
The early 2000s changed everything. Anji’s authorities shut down the mines and poured resources into restoring the land. The county became a pilot for the Chinese mainland’s green development agenda, proving you can fuel the economy and protect nature at the same time.
Fast forward to today: bamboo manufacturing, renewable materials, and rural tourism power the local economy. Anji has topped the Chinese mainland’s Top 100 Counties for Tourism Competitiveness list for six years straight!
Tourism alone now brings in over 20% of farmers’ direct income. In Yucun village, residents went from earning a few thousand yuan a year to making that in a single day—all thanks to a cleaner environment and new opportunities.
Anji’s story is a glimpse at a global green shift—moving from resource-intensive growth to sustainable prosperity. Here, nature isn’t just scenery; it’s the real VIP driving a quiet economic revolution. 🌱✨
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
