Tianshan Net reporter Gai Youjun
In late spring, the town of Sigil seems to have a stronger sense of spring.
Drive southwest along the mountain road in the south of Mulei Kazakh Autonomous County, and you will come to the town of Sigil. In the fields, agricultural machinery is galloping, spring ploughing is busy, and in the villages, rows of quaint balanfang houses exude antique charm, and farmhouses with their own characteristics are dotted in between. The spring mountains are dyed green, and the countryside is renewed. The daily life of the people in the mountains is the nostalgia in the dreams of tourists.
Mulei Kazakh Autonomous County, Xijir Town, Shuimo River Scenic Area. Photo by Pan Xiaoqiong
At the "Shuimo People's Home" B&B inn next to the century-old water mill in Shuimogou Village, the hostess Chen Xiaolan is busy cleaning up the guest rooms and preparing for the arrival of the new year's tourist season. In recent years, Chen Xiaolan has used her traditional corridor room to open a homestay inn, attracting tourists from all over the world to "visit here". In addition, the local agricultural products sold by her family, such as local chicken, dry-ground noodles, and potato vermicelli, have also become "souvenirs" for self-driving tourists, which have brought her family a certain amount of income.
There are "five ditches, one river and one spring" in Xijir Town, and a long Shuimo River passes through the border, creating a beautiful landscape here. In the past, because of its remote mountainous location, the town of Xijir was closed and backward because of its inconvenient transportation, and the villagers lived a poor life guarding the green mountains and clear waters. Nowadays, relying on the development of the rural tourism industry, this once poor countryside has undergone gorgeous butterfly changes.
"With the landscape ecology as the carrier, the local culture as the soul, and the characteristic industry as the support, we have taken the express train of all-for-one tourism development to build Xijir Town into the core area of Mulei's all-for-one tourism development. Kang Jun, Secretary of the Party Committee of Xijir Town, said.
In June 2023, the town of Sigir held a cultural event of nostalgia. Photo by He Fangfang
In the past few years, Xijier Town has increased investment, continuously transformed and upgraded traditional villages, improved rural infrastructure, developed tourist attractions, and carefully created beautiful villages full of local characteristics and local flavor, and the "appearance" and "connotation" of the entire village and town have been continuously renewed, and have been awarded the "National Forest Health Care Base Pilot Construction Unit", "National Characteristic Landscape Tourism Town", "National 4A-level Scenic Spot" and "Beautiful and Livable Demonstration Characteristic Small Town in the Autonomous Region". The countryside in the mountains is a scene, suitable for travel, business and living. Every year, during the tourist season, tourists from all over the world come in an endless stream. The quaint and beautiful villages and the unique scenery everywhere allow visitors here to find their "hometown", taste "nostalgia", and meet "poetry and distance".
"If you want to ask where the scenery is good, the most beautiful thing is Xigil!" Bai Yongjin, a villager from Shuimogou Village, said proudly. A few years ago, Bai Yongjin went to the city to do catering, contract construction projects, and open a video game city. Seeing that his hometown is becoming more and more beautiful, he resolutely returned to his hometown and invested in building a parent-child entertainment theme park integrating theme homestays, special catering, and children's amusement - Ink Flower Valley Playground.
"I used to think that everything but my hometown was good, but now I think my hometown is the best. He said.
With the rise of rural tourism, the villagers have also taken up the "golden rice bowl" of tourism, and have opened homestay inns, operated special catering, and engaged in the processing and sales of special agricultural products, which also made the villagers' pockets bulge.
In 2023, Xijir Town will receive a total of 115,000 tourists, with a tourism income of more than 26 million yuan and a per capita income of 22,968 yuan for farmers and herdsmen.
Villagers of Shuimogou Village, Xijir Town, visit the village history museum. Photo by Jia Chunjiang
"Now, the villagers have face, and the lining is even worse. Shi Tianhu, secretary of the general party branch of Shuimogou Village, said with a smile. The "lizi" he refers to the quality of the villagers and the civilized village customs.
On March 8 this year, Liu Guiying, a 76-year-old villager in Xijier Village, Xijir Town, was once again selected as a "good mother-in-law" by the town. Asked how many times this was the first time she had won this honor, Liu Guiying smiled and said: "There are too many times, I can't remember it clearly." Speaking of the reason for being rated as a "good mother-in-law", the old man will always say that it is because he has a good daughter-in-law who is capable and filial, and in the mouth of his daughter-in-law Liu Chunhua, her mother-in-law Liu Guiying is good at everything.
"After 33 years of being together under the same roof, we have never blushed. My mother-in-law is hardworking and simple, filial piety and love for relatives, and has set a good family style and is a good example for us to learn. Liu Chunhua said.
Kang Jun introduced that in recent years, Xijier Town has coordinated the promotion of civilization cultivation, civilization practice, and civilization creation, and relying on the New Era Civilization Practice Center, it has established a group of moral models, good people around them, the most beautiful people, and the most beautiful families. Through the evaluation of excellence, awards and commendations, the villagers can learn from the benchmark and set an example, and promote the new atmosphere of civilization in the countryside.
"With the full implementation of the rural revitalization strategy as the starting point, we will continue to expand rural characteristic industries, beautify the rural environment, cultivate civilized rural customs, improve rural governance, and strive to create a beautiful countryside with prosperous industries, beautiful environment, pure rural customs and rich farmers, so that Xijier will become a 'poetry and distance' in the hearts of tourists. Kang Jun said.