Small village sets example for China's beautiful countryside

Sitting just 6 kilometers north of Fenghua district in Ningbo, eastern China's Zhejiang province, Tengtou village is home to fewer than 1,000 registered residents. Yet this small village of no bigger than 2 square kilometers has become a widely cited example of how rural communities can balance livability, economic vitality, and social harmony.

Green development renews village

Much of what makes Tengtou livable today is deeply rooted in its decades-long commitment to environmental protection. For the village's residents, a clean and orderly living environment is not simply a byproduct of development, but the very foundation upon which development is built.

Residential compounds in Tengtou village. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Local folk rhymes once described Tengtou as a place where fields were uneven, roads were rough, and grain yields were meager. "When I was young, flies were everywhere, garbage piled up along the roads, and drainage ditches overflew after heavy rain," recalled Fu Deming, deputy director of the village's environmental committee. "Walking barefoot through the village often meant risking infection."

Changes began in 1993, when Tengtou established one of China's earliest village-level environmental committees. The committee was given veto power over projects that posed pollution risks, a rule that has remained in place for more than three decades. During that time, the village turned away more than 50 proposed projects involving over 400 million yuan ($57.88 million) in investment, including several that promised strong economic returns but failed to meet environmental standards.

In addition, Tengtou has invested about 210 million yuan in three major initiatives, known locally as the "blue sky, clear water, and green land" projects. These efforts led to the construction of facilities such as a village-level air quality monitoring station and an ecological wastewater treatment plant, helping raise the village's greenery coverage to 67%.

Through decades of effort, it has become a well-known eco-friendly village both in China and abroad, earning more than 70 national-level and international honors including being named among the "Global 500 Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement" and the "World Top 10 Harmonious Villages."