The Wachang Hotel has been included in the first batch of "China Rural Heritage Hotels". Photo provided by the interviewee

Before coming to Beigou Village, Bohai Town, Huairou District, Beijing, Zhao Qianshu worked in a star rated hotel for 8 years in the catering industry. Exhausted from the fast-paced life, he wanted to change his environment. So in 2019, he came to Beigou Village and embarked on a new adventure.

At that time, most rural tourism focused on visiting farmhouses and eating farm dishes, but Beigou Village was different. Not only did it have Beijing's unique copper pot braised pork, but it also had a variety of Western restaurants, Vietnamese cuisine, cafes, bars, and more. Zhao Qianshu quickly found his desired destination - San30 Boutique Homestay, which pursues the research and development of combining local ingredients to create dishes that combine local characteristics and warmth. We have turned local villagers into the backbone of the kitchen. Although the requirements are strict, they are willing to learn real skills and join us. "Zhao Qianshu smiled as he mentioned this new journey in life.

Zhao Qianshu is a member of the "new villagers" in Beigou Village. Beigou Village, Bohai Town, Huairou District, covering an area of 3.2 square kilometers, has a permanent population of only 150 households and 350 people, but is well-known as a "national civilized village and town". How does butterfly transformation occur? How can 'new villagers' find new opportunities for development? This has to start from many years ago

Young consultants from Beizi are on their way to conduct research. Photo provided by the interviewee

Fine governance, building a solid foundation of trust

The former Beigou Village was a famous "backward" in Huairou District, with an outstanding debt of over 800000 yuan, and village officials were unable to pay their annual salary of 4500 yuan. When it comes to past scenes, Wang Quan, the current secretary of the Beigou Village Party branch and a representative of the 12th and 13th National People's Congress, is filled with emotions. Young people who work outside say when they return home that if they have children in the future, they will never let them know that there is still a Beigou Village on Earth. Nowadays, Beigou Village has become an "international leisure village". From a small mountain village with a per capita annual income of less than 5000 yuan in the past, to a "internet famous new village" with a per capita annual income of 32000 yuan and a thriving cultural and tourism industry today, the transformation of Beigou Village cannot be separated from the refined governance of the village. This is also the confidence that Beigou Village has in gathering people's hearts and attracting foreign talents to take root.

The San30 boutique homestay where Zhao Qianshu is located and the Wachang Hotel in Beigou Village are built adjacent to each other, both of which are popular check-in spots in the village. Especially the Wachang Hotel has been listed as one of the first batch of "Chinese Rural Heritage Hotels", attracting many tourists. The fame of a hotel cannot be separated from its geographical location and historical and cultural empowerment, and the hotel operator also belongs to the "new villagers". It is not easy to coordinate the relationship between the "new villagers" and the "local villagers".

What Wang Quanshen has experienced is the collection of village level property fees. This is a small matter in grassroots governance, but it tests the wisdom of governance the most. In response to the different identities of villagers, homestay operators, foreign entrepreneurs, and foreign friends in Beigou Village, differentiated property fee collection standards have been formulated. "Villagers only symbolically pay 60 yuan per year, and homestay households pay according to their business scale. Enterprises and foreign merchants who have long-term settlement, participation in village construction, and enjoy the full set of public facilities in the village will implement exclusive payment standards, implement classified policies, and be fair and transparent," Wang Quan introduced.

In the early stages, the foreign operator of the Wachang Hotel had some confusion about the exclusive property fee standards. Faced with the doubts of enterprises, Wang Quan carefully interpreted the village regulations and governance logic. "Public welfare services such as infrastructure construction, pipeline repair, and road maintenance in the village are provided by villagers who work and contribute for free throughout the year, and merchants enjoy them for free. The village has unified and affordable water supply, normalized public services, covering every resident. Property fees are only used to ensure the public operation of the entire village, which is compliant, reasonable, open, and transparent

Sincere communication resolved the doubts of the enterprise and won deep recognition. The Wachang Hotel not only proactively paid in full, but also encouraged all foreign workers and settled enterprises in the village to voluntarily fulfill their obligations. Nowadays, Beigou Village has achieved full collection and zero arrears of annual property fees, providing a solid guarantee for the coordinated governance and long-term promotion of village enterprises.

Many of the stories told by Wang Quan are about the mutual tolerance between "new and old villagers" and "new and old subjects". The communication tower built in the village ensured smooth communication throughout the village, but it once seriously affected the landscape. When tourists took photos of the scenery of Wofo Mountain, the tower pole entered the mirror and damaged the scenery, directly restricting business development. After learning about the difficulties, Wang Quan took the initiative to coordinate with relevant units and successfully relocated the entire communication tower. This pragmatic measure not only improves the landscape of the village, but also allows the settled enterprises to truly feel the sincerity of Beigou Village's governance, service temperature, and business environment, and strengthens their confidence in continuous capital increase and deepening construction.

Young consultants from Beizi. Photo provided by the interviewee

Empowering young people and gathering diverse forces to jointly build an international new village at the foot of the Great Wall

The transformation of Beigou Village, in addition to refined governance, also has a "magic weapon", which is the empowerment of professional teams.

Wang Quan often has long conversations with a group of young consultants, discussing planning and seeking development. This group of young consultants is not simple, they are familiar with every blade of grass and every tree in Beigou Village. They come from Beijing Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beizi"). As a "think tank" for rural development, in 2024, they cooperated with the Bohai Town Government to successfully apply for the second batch of "Hundred Thousand Project" demonstration areas in Beijing.

As a core demonstration village, how can Beigou Village incubate more new products that are suitable for the characteristics of the village and can promote its experience? A young consultant from Beizi has a lot of ideas about this. In 2025, the creative achievement of Beigou Village and young consultants - the first national "Rural Operations Professional Manager" training will be implemented. At the same time, they rely on the opportunity of demonstration village construction to coordinate and promote key projects such as improving village appearance and upgrading infrastructure, continuously optimizing the living environment, and constantly polishing the overall rural style.

More than 70% of the professional team at Beizi engaged in rural revitalization related consulting and planning work are young people born in the 1990s. With their passion for rural areas and innovative thinking, they have become a key link connecting resources and activating rural assets.

In the view of Yin Yifan, the project leader of the "Hundred Thousand Project" in Bohai Town and a consultant for post-95s youth, rural revitalization has long surpassed the meaning of returning home to start a business. More and more young people from other villages, provinces, and even foreign countries are rooted here due to their love for the countryside and recognition of development space, injecting new vitality into the countryside with creativity and practical work. What we need to do is to make the countryside more charming and attract the arrival of young talents, "said Yin Yifan.

Shang Huifang, a consultant born in 1995 at Beizi, also enjoys it. When I first joined the company, my master Liu Xinyang told me that the mission behind this job was extraordinary. Only by using our expertise to 'translate' good policies can we open up funding channels for the vast rural areas. Three years after graduation, Shang Huifang has traveled to more than 100 villages in Beijing and helped rural areas apply for funding totaling over 250 million yuan. Her solid footprint has allowed her to accumulate rich experience in rural revitalization policy research, resource analysis, and industrial planning. She believes that the most fulfilling thing is helping villagers "hatch golden eggs that can make their own blood". We have helped each village implement industrial projects, and the villages have received tangible support, which has also driven local villagers' employment and income growth

From initially having doubts about young people rooting in rural areas, to now being deeply infected by the vitality of rural entrepreneurship, Shang Huifang's growth trajectory is a microcosm of the young team's dedication to rural revitalization. Liu Binbin, a member of the team, chose to major in urban and rural planning during his college years. In his opinion, rural areas have a different charm from cities. This charm attracted him to make rural construction his career.

When he first entered the industry, he found that rural planning was different from the planning ideas learned in books, with a myriad of details. Although I have been working in Beijing for 10 years, every time I come into contact with a new project or village, I still have a brand new feeling. "He compares himself to a" primary school student "in rural planning, constantly learning and improving. He was also delighted to see that in the past 10 years, the development of rural areas in Beijing has undergone tremendous changes, with significant improvements in both village style and villagers' income. What is even more valuable is the transformation in ideology. The rural areas in various districts of Beijing have gone from single point breakthroughs to the current clustered development, which makes rural construction more scientific and efficient

In June 2026, under the guidance of the Huairou District Agriculture and Rural Bureau, Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Beijing, the National Vocational Manager Research Center, Beijing Rural Revitalization Promotion Center of Beizi, and Wachang Hotel jointly launched the second phase of the "Rural Operations Professional Manager" advanced training course. Cao Bing, President of Wachang Beigou Rural Revitalization Training Institute and Executive President of 2049 Investment Group, introduced that "this is a deep exploration of the professionalization of rural talents. In November 2025, the first advanced training class was held in Beigou Village, and 30 village party branch secretaries, first secretaries, and industry leaders from various towns and villages in Huairou District participated in a comprehensive and systematic training covering in-depth analysis of policy systems, innovative exploration of industrial and operational models, on-site training, and case studies. This helped them become professional 'rural operators' from rural development participants, and systematically improved their core abilities in rural planning, industrial operation, and governance coordination." In Cao Bing's view, this also reserved for the long-term development of the integrated industry of agriculture, culture, tourism, sports, and commerce in Huairou District. Professional operational talents, building a sustainable and common prosperity development model, while, Let the International Cultural Village at the foot of the Great Wall continue to unleash its endogenous development vitality.

A corner of Beigou Village. Photo provided by the interviewee

New local style, painting a picture of livability, good governance, and happiness

Along the way, Wang Xiaochuan, the chief planner of the Urban and Rural Tourism Department of Beizi Company and the Beijing Rural Revitalization Promotion Center, wrote in his diary: "What impressed us the most is that Beigou Village has always been proactive in seeking change, bringing in and going out, and drawing a concentric circle together for development

Wang Quan led the village collective to jointly build with 2049 Investment Group. Relying on the capital investment, industrial operation, and innovative business capabilities of the group, village enterprises are striving in both directions and working together in the same direction. At present, 2049 Investment Group has invested a total of 150 million yuan in Beigou Village.

The North Corner Braised Meat Village Love Station has been transformed from a rural greenhouse kitchen into an old Beijing braised meat and rural living room, and the vacant land of the gas station has been transformed into a local style homestay. The consultants' designs integrate urban and rural life in Beigou. The renovation of the Wachang Hotel highlights the local characteristics and culture of Beigou Village, and confidently showcases the heritage of the village at the foot of the Great Wall. The Beigou Rural Art and Architecture Museum was upgraded to the Wa Art Museum after a year, becoming a well deserved public cultural landmark in Beigou Village. This native northern village has gradually transformed into a pioneering village that is in line with international standards.

The attractiveness of rural areas is not only about delicious food and beautiful scenery, but also requires a unique spiritual core. Art museums are the real carrier of spiritual core, "Cao Bing believes." The key to rural revitalization lies in people. "When villagers have changed, the entire village will naturally change. 2049 Investment Group hopes to become a villager of 'New Beigou Village' and work together with them

Nowadays, the collective annual stable revenue of Beigou Village is nearly 2 million yuan, of which 600000 yuan is fully repaid to the villagers, truly achieving a virtuous cycle of the "Hundred Thousand Project" construction effect, enterprise development value-added, and villagers' income increase.

In Wang Quan's view, the "Hundred Thousand Project" is not only a quality improvement project for infrastructure and industrial projects, but also a soul building project for rural civilization and villagers' literacy. The long-term revitalization of rural areas requires not only improving hardware support through rural revitalization policies and activating industries through enterprise investment, but also cultivating development confidence and enhancing rural soft power through civilized rural customs. Wang Quan introduced, "The village sets up special study periods every week and month, inviting famous teachers to interpret traditional culture, civilized etiquette knowledge, and continuously improve the moral literacy and civilization level of villagers

The silent cultural infiltration of moistening things has continuously broadened the villagers' minds, made their customs more simple, and fostered harmonious and friendly neighbors. At the same time, Wang Quan adheres to refined and institutionalized village level management, cultivating a new atmosphere of righteousness through strict and standardized village rules and regulations. Develop clear management rules for the village living environment, daily behavior, and public order, standardize daily behaviors such as pet raising and parking, and guide villagers to consciously abide by and jointly maintain them.

The heartwarming and people-oriented measures have further increased the happiness of villagers. Wang Quan proudly introduced, "Beigou Village implements a policy of free meals for elderly people over 70 years old. During festivals and holidays, the village also distributes condolence money and supplies to the elderly. The centenarians in the village can live worry free and enjoy their old age in peace

As a core demonstration village of the "Great Wall Reception Hall · International Village Creation Land" and the "Hundred Thousand Project" in Beijing, Beigou Village has won 8 national honors, received over 70000 visitors annually, and written a legend of "small village development". Wang Quan revealed that currently, Beigou Village is actively participating in the national elderly friendly demonstration community, continuously polishing the golden signboard of the "Hundred Thousand Project" demonstration village.

Having devoted half of his life to farming in the countryside, Wang Quan has always held his hometown and youth in high regard, fully calling for the power of youth to empower rural revitalization. He issued a sincere invitation, "We are building a platform for young people to return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship and employment. We welcome ambitious young people to root in Beigou and showcase their talents in the vast world of rural revitalization

Continuing to deepen our cultivation of rural areas, we have found that the operation oriented consulting service model for the entire process of rural revitalization is the trend. We look forward to continuously connecting talents, resources, industries, and policies... "This research note by Kang Yong, General Manager of the Urban and Rural Cultural Tourism Division of Beizi Company and Director of the Beijing Rural Revitalization Promotion Center, also responds to the expectations from rural areas. A group of young people like them are sketching a beautiful blueprint for rural revitalization on the vast fertile land, empowering high-quality rural development and allowing the power of youth to continue shining in the countryside.

Reporter Yan Zhangmo and Yan Tianshu from China Youth Daily and China Youth Net Source: China Youth Daily

June 27, 2026 Version 04