Conghua district was named as one of 60 national key counties for leisure agriculture in 2021, according to a recent release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).

The construction of key counties for leisure agriculture aims to support the rural revitalization and modernization of agriculture and rural areas by building a group of leisure agricultural counties with unique resources, comprehensive facilities, diversified business models and strong innovation, according to MARA.  

Unique advantages on natural resources

Located in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, Conghua boasts abundant forest parks and nature reserves at the national, provincial and municipal levels. It also has rich hot spring resources, which earned it the title of the First Spring in Lingnan of China.

Conghua is the venue of multiple national sports events, such as the national mass mountaineering fitness conference, the China Mountain Marathon series and the South China Historical Trail orienteering competition. It also has the first world-class racecourse on the Chinese mainland and is proactively exploring the integration of horseracing, sightseeing and event organization in a bid to inject new momentum into Conghua's rural revitalization. 

Conghua has five boutique rural tourism routes that are at the provincial level and above. The boutique guesthouse industry is another example of Conghua's efforts in stimulating rural industries. 

Improved facilities

Conghua has built high-quality greenways and trails for mountaineering and South China Historical Trail. A total of 139 public toilets have been built at scenic spots and along tourist routes. Over 1,000 rural domestic sewage treatment facilities have been built and all 221 villages have daily garbage disposal services.

Regarding cultural resources, Conghua has nine demonstration bases for the inheritance of "intangible cultural heritage into the campus", three revolutionary sites rated as Guangzhou's CPC history education bases, 10 study tour bases, and rural arts service stations covering all eight townships/subdistricts. 

Clear planning layout

Over the years, Conghua has been sticking to its development plan of integrating leisure agriculture with modern agriculture, countryside beautification, eco-civilization and the cultural industry. Guidelines and action plans were issued to build Conghua into a key destination for leisure sightseeing agriculture and rural tourism in South China.

In 2020, the number of people employed in leisure agriculture in Conghua reached 29,650, including 23,810 farmers, with a farmer employment rate of over 80.3 percent. The farmers' income from leisure agriculture was 28,620 yuan ($4,476), with an average growth rate of 3.7 percent in recent three years (2017-19). The per capita income of farmers was more than 5 percent higher than the average level in Guangdong.