Yuanyuan Village, Yongjia County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, is the first port for thousands of years of sailing. Eight years ago, under the promotion of Chen Xiaojing, then director of the Yuanyuan Village Committee, the sailboats and waterways that had disappeared in the local area for more than 30 years were restored with this poetic feeling and became a unique local tourism project on the Nanxi River.
As a representative of the 14th National People's Congress, Chen Xiaojing has been providing advice and suggestions for the development of her hometown in recent years. She cares about the environment in her hometown and the money bags of her fellow villagers.
This year is Chen Xiaojing’s 10th year working in Yuanyuan Village. In 2017, she was elected as the village committee director by the villagers. Under her leadership, the former dirty, chaotic and poor source village was transformed into the first "zero pollution" village in Zhejiang Province and a demonstration village for rural revitalization in the province.
Chen Xiaojing is the daughter-in-law of Yuanyuan Village. In the early years, she and her husband had been engaged in the clothing accessories business in Guangzhou. They were agile, capable and willing to work hard, and were well-known in the village as capable people. In 2017, with the rise of the B&B economy, the couple seized the opportunity to return to their hometown, renovated their house, and opened a B&B. When it opened, Chen Xiaojing specially invited more than a hundred friends to come to the village to experience it.
Chen Xiaojing: They ate here and stayed for one night, and they were heartbroken. "Xiao Jing, there is no business in a place like yours. From the outside, it looks like Europe inside, but from the inside, it looks like Africa." It is difficult to do business in such a dirty and messy place.
Chen Xiaojing: I was thinking that my home is fine anyway and the decoration has been installed. My house doesn’t matter anymore. I can just do business if I have one. I came back because I missed myself and my husband, and I wanted to return to my roots after falling leaves. I open a B&B here, and when my guests come, the eggs and old hens in the surrounding area will be sold. What I thought at the time was that the circle was small and it might help nearby neighbors make some money.
At that time, Yongjia County was catching up with the in-depth implementation of the "Return of Rural Virtues to Promote Rural Revitalization Action". Before the general election of the two village committees in the county, the old secretary of Yuanyuan Village came to his door many times and invited Chen Xiaojing to run for village cadre.
In May 2017, Chen Xiaojing was unanimously elected as the director of the Yuanyuan Village Committee. In the source village, most of the young and middle-aged people went out to work, and the left-behind elderly people lacked a source of income and mostly raised poultry and livestock for a living. As a result, the village roads were full of feces and smelled bad. After Chen Xiaojing took office, she and her team members set a goal – if they want to develop, they must first manage the environment.
However, when Chen Xiaojing asked each family to raise chickens, ducks and geese in captivity, conflicts arose.
Chen Xiaojing: You don’t need to give them food when they are free-range. They eat grass and insects and they lay eggs. If you keep it in captivity, you must have a place to keep it in captivity, and you must also provide it with food. He thinks you are meddling in his business. We gave the people half a month, and the radio in our village shouted the countdown every day. In the last half month, the two committees of our village went door to door to inspect.
After all the chickens, ducks and geese were raised in captivity, Chen Xiaojing took the lead in setting up a volunteer team of party members and cadres. The team members walked through the villages and alleys every day to clean up the garbage in front of and behind the houses.
In just three months, more than 300 trucks of garbage were cleared out in the village. However, there is a bigger problem before Chen Xiaojing: there is only one west-bound road in Yuanyuan Village, which is less than 1 meter wide at its widest point. There are latrines, cattle pens, and pig pens along the way, and the stench is overwhelming. Chen Xiaojing wants to demolish them and widen the road, but in rural areas, villagers are very resistant to the demolition.
Chen Xiaojing: I ran to the town to discuss it with the town. The secretary of the party committee of our town said, "Xiaojing, it's time for rural revitalization. There is such a model village in the province. If you really demolish the latrines and cattle pens, it costs more than 10 million yuan, and I will take over the project. Can you do it?" I said, "Secretary, don't worry." When we arrived in the county, he reported this matter to the county party committee secretary. Our town party committee secretary, mayor, and I signed the military order on the spot.
The opportunity was hard-won, and Yuanyuan Village finally successfully secured a 10 million yuan line reconstruction and stream regulation project. In one month, Chen Xiaojing convened more than 40 meetings between the two village committees. Although the words were worn out and the soles of shoes were worn out in the early stage, when the day of demolition started, the whole village still exploded.
Chen Xiaojing: The whole village exploded, "It's over. Select this Chen Xiaojing. You see, the chickens, ducks and geese will be raised in captivity, the door will be removed, and the latrines and cattle pens will be demolished." A few days after we demolished it, a villager stopped me and cursed me. I said, "If you beat me, I will tear you down. I'm ready. Why did you choose me? You will say I'm good when the time comes. This blueprint is all in my head."
In June 2018, the 100-day battle to improve the environment in Yuanyuan Village officially kicked off. Chen Xiaojing set the first goal: to demolish all the latrines, cattle pens, and pig pens in the village in five days.
In those days, Chen Xiaojing endured unprecedented pressure. On the third day, she accidentally fell into a ditch on the side of the road on her way home after a late-night meeting due to exhaustion from days of hard work.
Chen Xiaojing: My husband sent me to the People's Hospital, and my blood pressure was measured. The high pressure was 220 and the low pressure was 115. Do you think you won’t faint with such blood pressure? The doctor recommended that I be hospitalized. I said, "I can't live with it, and we will continue to demolish it tomorrow. You can't finish the demolition, but you demolish half and leave half, which is really scolding. My plan is not completed yet, and I must build the Source Village well."
Within five days, 319 cattle pens, pig pens, huts, open pits, etc. were demolished in the village, and nearly 7,000 square meters of dirty land were cleared. Within 40 days, projects such as waterway dredging, third-line landing, facade renovation, and road "white to black" were completed, completely eradicating "blockage sources" and "odor sources." Yuanyuan Village took on a new look, with an endless stream of people coming to visit and study. The villagers' grievances gradually turned into understanding and gratitude.
Chen Xiaojing: In fact, the people in rural areas are also very simple and kind, and they are also very straightforward. If they do something wrong, they will scold them, right on the spot. After scolding you, he will understand you and come to apologize again. He will give you some food, some radishes, and some potatoes.
Demolition is only the first step. In order to lead the villagers to get rich, Chen Xiaojing and the village "two committees" decided to take the path of cultural tourism. In 2018, they petitioned the town for the Bi Mongolia Cultural Center project and decided to "resurrection" the Bi Mongolia boat built more than 1,800 years ago.
Chen Xiaojing: I searched all over Nanxi River and found three masters. The youngest one is 68 years old and makes it purely by hand. Taking advantage of the east wind of rural revitalization, we resurrected more than 30 sailing boats. Our environment has been renovated. Through the exploration of our culture and the prosperity of the tourism industry brought by the boat, we have started homestays, farmhouses, snack bars, and live broadcasts with goods.
The boat brought back not only memories, but also feelings and nostalgia. Source Village opens its doors to welcome customers and welcomes unprecedented business opportunities. Chen Xiaojing encouraged villagers to open B&Bs, snack bars, and sell agricultural and sideline products, and personally invited villagers working in other places to return to their hometowns to start businesses. Dai Caiwei, known as "Sister-in-law" in the village, is one of them.
Dai Caiwei used to rent a shop outside and worry about the rent even after a day off. Now she runs a business at home and can take care of the elderly. In the first half year of opening, the store made more than 50,000 yuan.
In 2020, Chen Xiaojing was elected as the Party branch secretary of Yuanyuan Village and concurrently serves as the director of the village committee. The burden on her shoulders is even heavier. In order to promote tourism diversification, in 2025, she built a beach forest camp covering an area of more than 20,000 square meters through fundraising and crowdfunding. Zhang Wensheng, who runs a building materials business in Chengdu, is one of the investors in the camp.
Zhang Wensheng: We are optimistic about the country’s policies. Nowadays, rural areas are revitalized to achieve mutual prosperity and win-win results. I am often in Chengdu and go out to play outdoors. I think Chengdu has a good outdoor atmosphere and environment. So our hometown has such good geographical conditions, and the country is so supportive, so our family can definitely do it.
Nowadays, more and more young people are returning to their hometowns to start businesses. The "hollow villages" are rejuvenated, and talents from other places are also joining in one after another. Chen Xiaojing also took the lead in live broadcasting to help farmers, initiated the "B&B Alliance" to achieve group development, founded the "Mother Literacy School", and formed the "Co-Prosperity Detachment of Women". Last year, the village's total tourism income was more than 2 million yuan, the village collective annual income increased by more than 200,000 yuan, and the per capita annual income of farmers increased by more than 1,000 yuan.
