A MILESTONE RURAL REVIVAL DRIVE

Zhejiang, a province on the southeast coast of China, boasts of a project that’s in its 20th year now. Its Green Rural Revival Program, which started as an environmental protection project, has today become a turning point in the development of Zhejiang’s rural areas, changing the destiny of countless villages and profoundly influencing the future of China’s countryside.

In September 2018, the program won the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Champions of the Earth award. When Erik Solheim, then UNEP executive director, saw the changes taking place in rural Zhejiang, he said, “This is what China will look like in the future … even what the world will look like in the future.”

The 600-year-old Chenjiapu Village,located in Songyang County of Lishui City,maintains its original quaint appearance while developing various new businesses in the countryside.Yu Xiangjun