Longwangba Village Transforms Into Rural Tourism and Training Destination

What changed

Longwangba village in Xiji County, Ningxia, has remade itself from a remote, water-poor village into a rural tourism and training destination.

In 2013, its 821 residents included 200 registered poor households, with average annual income below 3,000 yuan. By 2025, the village received 350,000 visitors. It had welcomed another 340,000 by the end of October 2026.

Why it matters

Longwangba’s change is visible in the work available at home. Some 190 villagers now earn an average annual wage of 23,000 yuan locally. A cooperative has distributed more than 1.2 million yuan to villagers over six years.

The village has built different reasons to visit across the year: cave-dwelling homestays, study programmes, camping sites, cultural performances, wellness stays and training facilities. It works with more than 100 partner organisations and runs an average of 42 training sessions annually.

That mix matters because the village is not relying on a single attraction. Children arrive for study tours. Older visitors stay in cave homes with heated brick beds. Young people come to camp or paint. Businesses use the training centre.

Longwangba has also turned its local products and traditions into something it can sell beyond the village. At the 2024 French International Agricultural Fair in Paris, its goji berries, wine, celery juice and paper-cut art reportedly brought in more than 400,000 yuan in on-site sales. The paper-cut decorations sold out.

The village’s overseas attention has grown since then, with visitors from more than 20 countries. Its strongest achievement may be less glamorous than the Paris trip: residents who once left in winter to find work can now earn money beside their own homes.

Whether the model is profitable enough to copy elsewhere remains unclear. But Longwangba shows what rural revival looks like when tourism is tied to local jobs, cooperative income and cultural work, not just a scenic view.