The picturesque terraced farmlands in clouds in Dazhai village, Longsheng county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo provided by Wang Chenlin/For China Daily]

"The stories, history, traditions, and beliefs there are closely related to the land, from ancient villages to magnificent terraces, from hardworking farmers to the culture passed down through generations," Lu adds.

Yu says that today, many other areas with terraced landscapes come to Longsheng for tips on development.

In 2022, the village was named among the Best Tourism Villages by the World Tourism Organization, thanks to its achievements in balancing tourism and economic development, while protecting the environment.

Yu says that more than 200 households in the village run homestays, around 70 percent of which are booked during peak tourist periods, mostly in summer and autumn.

"Next, we aim to introduce more cultural and tourism-related projects suitable to the area, to enrich the experience and further the development of the cultural and tourism sectors," Yu says.

"At the same time, we will continue to strengthen the protection of our culture, terraced landscapes, and traditional architecture, to ensure that terrace culture continues to thrive in our generation."

Local resident Pan Yingfang received more than 40,000 yuan in tourism dividends last year, the most in Dazhai.

Before the road was built in 2003, her family's small rice fields barely helped keep their heads above water.

"We still needed to work outside," Pan says.

Ever since the village developed tourism over a decade ago, she started to receive annual bonuses.

"I also have income from planting the paddies, and life is much better than before," she says.

Being chosen as a rural vitalization model is a manifestation of both social and economic benefits, says Lei Chen, Longsheng Party secretary.

In recent years, the autonomous county has leveraged tourism — especially leisure agriculture and rural tourism — to adjust the agricultural economic structure, increase income for farmers, and enhance livelihoods.

A special annual tourism fund of up to 10 million yuan is available to help integrate tourism with urban and rural construction and preservation of resources, Lei says.

Multiple folk festivals based around ethnic costumes and artifacts, farming culture, revolutionary history and health preservation have been launched.

More effort will be made to showcase Longsheng's well-preserved environment and diverse ethnic culture to the world, with the goal of driving growth in tourist numbers and spending across the county, Lei says.

"Next, Longsheng aims to create a world-class tourism destination and demonstration area for ethnic cultural tourism in Guilin," Lei adds.