At a village in central China’s Henan province, Shang Qinjie, a young art enthusiast, was
busy spraying oil paint onto a wall, drawing the attention of many residents.
“I’m painting an anime-style picture of a pastoral scene. It’s merely a one- or two-day job,”
said the post-90s man, standing on a scaffold.
In May 2019, at the invitation of a schoolmate, he began to paint pictures on walls at Xiaotun
village, Zhangcun township, Xinxiang city of Henan, also his hometown, before which he
worked in big cities.
At first, Shang merely did it for fun. It is his interest in painting that has kept him doing the
job to this day.
Shang wanted to draw paintings on the exterior of houses in the village in a more fashionable
and interesting way that differs from the formerly seen idyllic style. The village has given him
enough space to realize his ideas. As a result, many brightly colored and lifelike drawings
appeared on the walls of Xiaotun village.
Shang didn’t expect that his paintings could make Xiaotun village a famous tourist
destination. After villagers shared the pictures of Shang’s artworks on WeChat and short
video platforms, tourists from neighboring villages and even faraway places were attracted to
Xiaotun village.
Visitors come either to take photos with the creative paintings on the walls, or relax in idyllic
surroundings, or learn about the wall-painting project in the village.
As the characteristic paintings on the walls become more and more widely known, Xiaotun
village is winning increasing popularity with tourists.
Residents weren’t used to seeing so many visitors in their village initially. However, they
gradually learned to grasp the opportunity.
Some villagers started to sell snacks and run diners, and their business is booming thanks to
tourists flocking to the village. A parking lot has also been built in the village for the
convenience of visitors who drive here.
The steady stream of visitors has made the village see broader development prospects. It
decided to seize the opportunity and build B&Bs and improve its catering services to form an
integrated tourism model.
“During this year’s week-long Spring Festival holiday in February, the daily turnover of my
shop reached more than 2,000 yuan ($312.8),” said Zhao Haiqing, owner of a small shop in
the village, who is very satisfied with the changes to the village.
“My relatives and friends who came to visit all said that Xiaotun village has taken a more
beautiful look,” Zhao added.
Shang has posted many videos about the drawings he made on the Chinese short video
platform Douyin under the account name “Daxin,” which have received hundreds of
thousands of “likes.”
Netizens from other villages left messages to him in the comment sections of his videos,
inviting him to paint in their villages. Residents in Xiaotun village also raced to ask Shang to
paint pictures on the walls of their houses, and Shang has agreed to their requests willingly.
He has so far finished decorating more than 80 percent of the walls in Xiaotun village with
creative pictures and intends to speed up his work and continue to paint for other villages.
“I started to paint for fun but gradually became aware of the significance of the job,” Shang
said, adding that he will pursue the career as a painter in rural areas to bring wall paintings to
more villages and make more people become attached to the countryside.
Shang feels a sense of achievement as Xiaotun village becomes more attractive and widely
recognized with each passing day.
In fact, besides the well-decorated walls, many other changes are happening in Xiaotun
village. The once bumpy unsurfaced roads have been turned into clean and flat cement ones;
the living environment of the village has become cleaner and tidier; many villagers even
redecorated their houses.
Few people outside knew about or visited Xiaotun village before, recalled Shi Lei, first
secretary assigned to fight poverty in Dawangzhuang village, which has administration
authority over Xiaotun village.
Xiaotun village now enjoys increasing popularity, Shi noted, adding that it is advancing
cultural tourism projects including an insect museum.
