Guangdong boasts two more national key counties for leisure agriculture

Huadu District in Guangzhou and Yingde, a county-level city in Qingyuan, have been rated among the national key counties of leisure agriculture in 2023.

The list was recently released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The construction of key counties for leisure agriculture aims to build a group of leisure agricultural counties with unique resources, comprehensive facilities, diversified business models and strong innovation, thus supporting the rural revitalization and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

As of now, 6 county-level areas in Guangdong have been included on the list. The other four are Guangzhou's Conghua District, Zhaoqing's Deqing County, Shaoguan's Renhua County, and Jiangmen's Kaiping, also a county-level city.

Historical village in Huadu District, Guangzhou. Photos from Nanfang Daily

Huadu is located in the north of Guangzhou, boasting a long history, beautiful natural landscapes, and unique folklore culture. With much effort made to develop modern urban agriculture, the district has built up a number of distinctive ecological parks, homestays, and research bases themed around vegetables, fruits, historical villages, and aromatic tourist resorts.

Canola field in Huadu District, Guangzhou.

Thus far, Huadu has successfully created a national key route featuring historical villages and a provincial one showcasing local flowers, bonsai trees, plants, vegetables, and fruits. At present, there are more than 30 provincial and municipal sites for leisure agriculture and rural tourism and one national beautiful leisure village within the district.

Tea garden in Yingde, Qingyuan City.

Yingde City has developed a batch of well-known rural tourism brands, including Hetou Village, Yuzui Village, and Longhua Village. Famous for its peak forest landform, black tea, and rockery bonsai, the city owns two national beautiful leisure villages, one national key village for rural tourism, two national selected routes for rural tourism, four national 4A-rated tourist attractions, and six national 3A-rated tourist attractions.

Modern agricultural scientific and technological demonstration base in Yingde, Qingyuan City.

So far, the province has established six national key counties for leisure agriculture, 62 national beautiful leisure villages, six nationally important agricultural heritages, and 42 national selected routes for rural tourism. (GD Today)