Moon Bridge Village: Painting a New Picture of Rural Revitalization with Culture

Moon Bridge Village: Painting a New Picture of Rural Revitalization with Culture

“During the 2023 Spring Festival, my family and relatives, over 130 people in total celebrating together at the Moon Bridge Cultural Warehouse in the village.” Liu Changli proudly showed photos of his entire family. The cultural warehouse, founded by him, not only holds the collective memories of his family but has also become the "Dream place to start" for the sweet lives of many new couples in Jinnan District of Tianjin, and even in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

With the village’s name symbolizing love, happiness, and hope for better days, Moon Bridge Village has cooperated with enterprises to develop the wedding industry innovatively. After several years of planning and layout, Moon Bridge Village has become a renowned destination for marriage registration in Jinnan District and even whole Tianjin.

Reviving Cultural Memories and Creating Highlights for Rural Tourism

On the bridge in the rain by West Lake, White Snake and Xu Xian used a paper umbrella as their appointment, then their love began. Similarly, under the Moon Bridge, where a stream murmurs, wedding boats slowly sail by, carrying laughter and smiles of groom and bride as they embark on a new chapter of their lives. Bridges have often symbolized love throughout history. Moon Bridge Village itself is imbued with romance and legend. Long time ago, there was a bridge here known as the "Moon Bridge," where the god in charge of marriages matched young people, making it a sacred place for romantic encounters and a symbol of hope for beautiful love.

The legend of the "Moon Bridge" not only endows the village with a unique cultural heritage but also caught the attention of local entrepreneur Liu Changli. "As a native inhabitant, I feel obligated to help revitalize my hometown. After visiting and inspecting various places, I noticed that inhabitants nearby lacked a decent banquet hall for wedding celebrations. I wondered if there could be a place that could host large weddings and promote rural development, so I began planning the cultural warehouse."

With active promotion and full support from the town and village, Liu Changli decided to turn the legend into reality, bringing about a dual cultural and economic transformation to Moon Bridge Village. In August 2021, with the first shovel of dirt turned, the Moon Bridge Cultural Warehouse project officially kicked off. Closely adhering to the theme of marital culture in Moon Bridge Village, with careful planning and dedication from the village committee, the old factories were transformed into a unique project themed around marital culture, integrating catering, research, accommodation, conferencing, and wellness. After nearly two years of intense construction and meticulous preparation, the Moon Bridge Cultural Warehouse finally debuted in April 2023. At that moment, the entire Moon Bridge Village erupted in excitement. The wedding banquet scenes, romantic, elegant and grand, as if stepping into a fantastic wedding world. This project not only inherits and promotes the marital cultural heritage of Moon Bridge Village.

In its first year of operation, the Moon Bridge Cultural Warehouse has welcomed 160,000 tourists, including 70,000 for research purposes, with a turnover of 18 million yuan. Regularly hosting events such as the "Moon Old Man Cultural Festival," family virtue storytelling, and opera performances, it vigorously promotes traditional Chinese virtues, effectively driving cultural inheritance and development. Committed to achieving common prosperity, strategic cooperation through village collective shareholding and annual dividends has facilitated employment opportunities for over 70 inhabitants and boosted the development of surrounding homestay industries, playing a crucial role in strengthening the village collective economy, achieving prosperity and income growth for farmers, and promoting comprehensive rural revitalization.

Culture Leading Development and Promoting Industrial Integration and Upgrading

Beizhakou Town, where Moon Bridge Village located, has not only remodeled dilapidated factories, but also making rural culture a new vitality for rural development. The people of Moon Bridge Village have begun to re-excavate their cultural resources. They discovered that besides forgotten old factories and old houses, traditional crafts are also unique cultural symbols of Moon Bridge Village. Thus, a revitalization themed "Reviving Cultural Memories and Creating Highlights for Rural Tourism" unfolded in Moon Bridge Village.

With the in-depth advancement of cultural revitalization in Moon Bridge Village, the village's industrial structure has undergone significant changes. Emerging industries such as rural tourism, homestay operations, and handicraft production have flourished, providing employment opportunities for inhabitants.

Moon Bridge Village fully taps into traditional craft resources and encourages inhabitants to develop the handicraft production industry, including paper-cutting, clay sculpting, and embroidery. These handicrafts not only have ornamental value but also market value. Through a combination of online and offline, Moon Bridge Village's handicrafts have left the countryside and entered the market.

Today's Moon Bridge Village has radiated new vitality and vigor, transforming from a sleepy village into a model for rural revitalization. In the future, Moon Bridge Village will continue to use culture as the brush to paint a new picture of rural revitalization. Deputy Town Chief and First Secretary of Moon Bridge Village, Sun Fujiang, confidently stated, "We plan to further delve into marital cultural theme resources to create more diversified and customized wedding service scenarios; accelerate the construction of projects such as the 'Moon Bridge Twelve Workshops' boutique homestays; strengthen cooperation and exchanges with surrounding areas to jointly promote the development of regional cultural tourism industries. Let us jointly anticipate Moon Bridge Village writing an even more brilliant chapter in its future development!"

(TIANJIN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL COMMITTEE, Writer: Ma Jiangpeng)