What changed
Ma Ying village in Hefei, Anhui, has turned a once-overlooked rural area into a cluster of businesses built around tourism, rice wine, cultural events and youth education. The village now has 50 startup entities, draws 400,000 visitors a year and recorded 3.15 million yuan in collective operating income in 2025, up from 12,000 yuan in 2014.
Why it matters
The change began with the Ma Ying Plan, launched in 2015 to bring volunteers into the village. Six in ten of today’s businesses were founded by former volunteers, showing how a short-term civic project became a local business pipeline.
Kong Weifeng, a returning entrepreneur from the beer industry, now produces 110,000 bottles of rice wine a year. His products include naturally sparkling rice wine and a coffee-infused version aimed at custom orders. He says young women account for 98% of consumers and repeat purchases remain at 80%.
That mix of small experiments is the real story. Ma Ying did not rely on one large factory or a single tourist attraction. It built a platform where food, festivals, horse-themed cultural products, creative studios and education ventures could reinforce one another.
The village cooperative is now planning an OPC community, allowing individual creators to share resources and grow together. A youth drone-education venture is also exploring AI animation production and overseas distribution.
The model’s limits are still unclear. Its results may depend on local cultural assets, visitor access and the cooperative’s ability to keep supporting new businesses. But Ma Ying’s experience suggests that rural development can begin with something less grand than a landmark project: a place for people to try an idea, find customers and stay.
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