Harvest time always pres-
ents Sanjiang Dong autono-
mous county at its picturesque
best.
Farmers are busy harvest-
ing the rice paddies amid the
golden farmland and fishing
the ponds in October, and the
air is filled with optimism for a
big harvest in the county in the
Guangxi Zhuang autonomous
region.
Wei Fahong seems content
with the harvest from his fam-
ily’s farmland of half an acre in
Linlue village of Sanjiang.
This year he reaped more
than 3,300 pounds of rice,
which will bring his family an
income of more than 10,000
yuan ($1,570).
Amid the high wheat straw
in the pond, fish were fattened
perfectly for the dining table.
Some farmers celebrated
harvest ahead of time with
fresh roast fish.
“It’s harvest season, and
having fish is an auspicious
practice that expresses our
wish for a surplus harvest,”
said Shi Shilian, a villager in
Sanjiang.
In Chinese, the word for fish
and a word meaning surplus
are pronounced in the same
way.
“It’s a good way to celebrate
our gains,” Shi said.
Sanjiang county is home
to the ethnic Dong people,
accounting for 57% of the local
population. Locals have relied
on paddies and fishing for a
living since ancient times.
The fertile land, rich water
resources and pleasant climate
make things ideal for agricul-
tural development.
The symbiosis of the two
brings the benefits as the fish
eat pests and microorganisms
that are bad for the rice, while
producing fertilizer for the
crop, the local authority said.
The county was named
a demonstration zone for
standardized fish culture in
paddy fields this year, and the
authority has come up with
standards for all links in the
fish culture chain.
The standards have helped
increase production of paddy
rice and fish, improving their
popularity among consumers,
said Hou Menglin, director of
the Sanjiang market supervi-
sion bureau.
The method has enabled
locals to produce premium,
high-quality rice and fish, both
of which have helped to draw
visitors from the city.
They can go fishing and grill
their catch, while taking in the
distinctive rural and ethnic cul-
ture as they enjoy the unrivaled
hospitality of Sanjiang.
The Chengyang Bazhai sce-
nic area in Sanjiang comprises
eight villages with more than
10,000 Dong residents and
features a rich ethnic culture.
It allows visitors to get a fas-
cinating glimpse into the well-
preserved ancient traditions of
the ethnic group, including its
songs, dances, religious beliefs,
folk customs and textile skills.
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CHINA WATCH
PRESENTED BY CHINA DAILY
New farming methods are helping harvest
a tourism wave in Guangxi Zhuang
autonomous region
BY YANG FEIYUE
Tourists from home and abroad enjoy traditional Dong food during a festival
banquet. GONG PUKANG / FOR CHINA DAILY
The perfect
farm combo:
rice and fish
The historical bridges and
traditional wooden buildings
are picture perfect, especially
the drum towers and houses
on stilts.
Yongji Bridge, for instance,
features pagodas and pavilions
across its span. Completed in
1912, it is typical of many local ar-
tistic structures, some of which
can boast a history stretching
back more than 2,000 years. It
was named among the world’s
top 10 most spectacular bridges
by the American Broadcasting
Co. in 2008.
From January to July Sanjiang
received a total of 5.71 million
visits, 124% more than in the
corresponding period last year,
and tourism revenue reached
6.7 billion yuan, 125% higher.
By last year a total of 25,000
people in Sanjiang had engaged
in the tourism industry by of-
fering various related services,
including running rural home-
stays and selling local farm
produce.
Tang Xinguang of Dashu
village was one of the first to
answer Sanjiang’s call to take
up rice production and fish
farming.
He rented idle land from
villagers and applied the new
agricultural standards. At
the same time, he got help in
promoting the farm’s produce
via e-commerce and various
agricultural shows.
“The standardized paddy-
field-fish-culture has spread in
our village,” Tang said, adding
that the area dedicated to the
farming technique has expand-
ed from 22 acres to more than
74 acres in Dashu.
Many locals have opened
rural restaurants serving a feast
of fish for visitors.
Sanjiang has built five paddy
and fish culture demonstration
bases, which altogether cover
