Gongjiatun Village: Red Culture plus Green Industry Strategy to Fuel Rural Revitalization

Accompanied by the warm sun shining through the greenhouse, villagers in Gongjiatun Village are enthusiastically harvesting Chinese Cabbage. The green leaves of the Chinese Cabbage reflect the farmers' bright red faces, and the rural revitalization concept of "red plus green" is bringing changes to this village. In 2023, Gongjiatun Village was successfully selected as a pilot village for the national "Red Beautiful Village" construction. Today's Gongjiatun Village is totally different from the past.

As a demonstration village for rural revitalization in Tianjin, Gongjiatun Village adheres to the principle of practicality and fully leverages the advantages of inheriting red culture. It plans and implements the "red plus green" rural revitalization path, and determines the two theme areas of "red culture development area and green industry development area". According to local conditions, allowing the village's industries to advance step by step.

Since 2021, Gongjiatun Village has transferred 160 acres of high-quality land from villagers, built 20 high standard solar greenhouses, and carried out the cultivation of high-quality fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural products. Relying on these greenhouses, Gongjiatun Village has successfully introduced planting enterprises and developed the cultivation of characteristic agricultural products, playing a demonstrative and driving role. At the same time, more than 10 villagers were able to find employment at their doorstep, with an average annual income increase of over 40000 yuan per person.

The villagers of Gongjiatun Village have a special fondness for reed weaving. Many years ago, they would use reeds to weave cool mats, curtains, pot covers, and grasshopper cages. In 2021, Gongjiatun Village established the Tuanbowa Reed Art Museum, which integrates design, production, exhibition, and marketing, transforming the ubiquitous reeds in Tuanbowa into exquisite handmade paintings. Since the establishment of the art museum, the village has cultivated a group of skilled reed painters, selling over 2000 reed paintings with an annual sales revenue of 180000 yuan, which has enabled villagers to increase their income and become wealthy without leaving the village. Moreover, reed paintings have become a new cultural symbol of Gongjiatun Village. In 2022, the large-scale reed painting "Welcoming the Beijing Winter Olympics" created by the villagers of Gongjiatun Village was collected by the 2022 Winter Olympics Memorial Hall as a special artwork created for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

With abundant water and grass, floating reeds, and simple folk customs, Gongjiatun Village has a history of over 600 years. It was once a place where revolutionary martyrs shed their blood, and red is the most proud color of Gongjiatun Village. Every year during the Tomb Sweeping festival, the red education base in Gongjiatun is shaded by lush pine and cypress trees, making it particularly solemn and dignified.

When it comes to the exhibition hall next to the Gongjiatun Red Education Base, one cannot help but mention Xu Qingxing, a college student who walked out of Gongjiatun Village. Xu Qingxing, who was influenced by his parents since childhood, knows the red stories in the village like a treasure and has a deep attachment to his homeland. In 2018, Xu Qingxing, who retired from Tianjin University of Commerce, returned to the village and immediately contacted with the village committee, expressing his desire to further explore the village's red resources and build an exhibition hall next to the Gongjiatun Red Education Base. Soon, the construction of the exhibition hall began, and Xu Qingxing donated all the materials, red collections, and old objects he had carefully collected over the years. The villagers were deeply moved by this situation and donated their family heirlooms one after another. Soon, the village collected more than 400 display items and over 50 large exhibition boards. The tangible objects, precious historical pictures, and touching stories that are full of historical significance vividly depict the glorious deeds of revolutionary martyrs who fought bravely and shed blood. After the completion of the exhibition hall, it will integrate with the Red Education Base and become a well-known patriotic education base in Jinghai District. Nowadays, tens of thousands of people from all walks of life have come to Gongjiatun Village to learn and visit due to their reputation.

In 2023, Gongjiatun Village will be included in the pilot list for the construction of red and beautiful villages in the selected group. With the strong support, Gongjiatun Village has used red resources to strengthen red tourism. In just one month, a complete red village plan was designed, and the Gongjiatun Red Education Base and exhibition hall were upgraded and renovated. The renovated red education base has updated the font and color of martyrs' tombstones, and the large trees in the park have been sorted and transplanted. The exhibition hall of the Red Education Base has been redesigned with three parts and seven units to meet the wishes of tourists to commemorate heroes, revisit history, and draw strength. The newly built Oath Square along the river further creates a solemn and dignified atmosphere through reliefs, scenes, text, and other forms, effectively playing the role of the main battlefield of red education. At the same time, Gongjiatun Village has the red education base exhibition hall as its core, and has also set up art exhibitions and revolutionary style sculptures on the main street.

Using red resources to strengthen red tourism, by developing green industries such as ecological harvesting and agricultural tourism, Gongjiatun Village has gradually achieved scientific planting, large-scale development, and industrialized operation of the greenhouse fruit and vegetable industry. It has played a combination of "red plus green" for rural revitalization, allowing all villagers to know the past, understand the present, and believe in the future. The people's wallets are more abundant and their lives are more prosperous. This 600 year old village has embarked on a new journey and embarked on a path of characteristic industries to help rural revitalization.

(TIANJIN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL COMMITTEE, Writer: Du Min; Translator: Ma Jiangpeng)