Noodles, fish soup help make Spring Festival feast

Residents of Wazao village in Qifengdu township of Chenzhou, Hunan province, had a feast of rice noodles in fish soup in anticipation of the upcoming Spring Festival.

After decorating the entire village with red lanterns, they put their tables together and prepared for the traditional feast on the evening of Jan 12.

Hand-made Qifengdu rice noodles, a traditional local specialty, were listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in 2016. That same year, a local food enterprise created a rice noodle center in the village that included a cultural inheritance hall, an industrial park and a rice noodle processing plant.

The center has provided job opportunities and played important role in rural vitalization.

Benefiting from the booming industry, Li Xiongyan and her husband Lei Hongjun have seen their income increase significantly.

"In the past, income from planting rice on the 0.26 hectares of farmland could only meet basic needs," Li said. "Now, my husband and I can earn around 80,000 yuan ($11,856) each year, which is more than I ever imagined."

With an area of more than 146 hectares, a raw material base producing rice, fish, chili and ginger has been built in the village, which now has a complete industrial chain for rice noodles.

The collective income of the village increased from 380,000 yuan in 2021 to 800,000 yuan in 2022, and the per capita income of the villagers rose to 29,000 yuan, according to local officials. It also helped promote the development of local tourism, drawing tourists from nearby cities.

Every year, the village receives around 450,000 tourists, about half of whom visit the industrial park.