Sustainable future

Shi believes the key to rural vitalization lies in talent, and it is essential to create conditions for talented people to work and live in rural areas.

To generate more job opportunities, Shi and his team have incubated four enterprises and two social organizations, forming a comprehensive platform for systematic research and practical implementation of rural vitalization and sustainable development.

The village has renovated vacant houses into free office spaces and dormitories for the new villagers, and provides free water, electricity and natural gas.

To date, the village has become home to over 70 urban youths from more than 20 cities across China, with another 300 living in the village occasionally.

"Most of the new residents have a good educational background, and come from diverse professional backgrounds, including finance and investment, architectural design, urban planning, culture and art, ecological agriculture, and innovative education," Shi said.

He said many people believe that moving to the countryside is an escape from reality or an act of "lying flat". However, it is quite the opposite in Tieniu.

"The new villagers view rural vitalization as a career where they can leverage their expertise and dedicate themselves to its continuous development," he said, adding they are more proactive, self-aware and responsible for their own quality of life.

Cheng, the researcher who is concerned about the impact of rural residents on climate change, came in the hope of practicing and advocating a low-carbon lifestyle.

She said life in Tieniu is what she had dreamed of, where she eats what she grows and works with like-minded young people from around the country.

"The experience in the village has allowed me to discover more possibilities for myself and learn to become a complete person," she said.

Over the past three years, Shi has accomplished the first phase of his rural experiment with an investment of 5 million yuan, achieving a balance between profit and cost.

"This year is crucial as we are entering a stage of massive development," he said.

The ecological orchard in the village will expand to 20 hectares this year, with over 100 households joining in, said Xu, who announced the news at the opening ceremony of the Pujiang Tangerine Picking Festival in January.

Xu said the village has started construction of a talent park project designed by Shi, aiming to provide larger and more comfortable space for new villagers to work and live in.

To attract more support, Shi's team launched a One Yuan Adoption program. Anyone who joins the program can adopt a tree in the ecological orchard for 365 yuan per year, and at the end of the year, they will receive four kilos of tangerines from the tree, along with a gift box containing fruit wine, chocolate and a woven item.

Nearly 3,000 people have joined the program, Shi said.

Shi said their ultimate goal is to realize ecological planting at all the tangerine groves in Tieniu.

"The goal is quite challenging, and the process depends on how many people participate," he said.