
Betel Nut Valley is a 5A-level scenic spot of Chinese folk culture in south China’s Hainan Province.
It is located in a tropical forest, which is home to the island's earliest natives, the Li and Miao ethnic groups.
Betel Nut Valley showcases many items of state-level intangible cultural heritage. Li brocade, with a history of several thousand years, was listed as UNESCO's first endangered cultural heritage group in 2009.
Now, Li brocade has been used to make a series of featured cultural and creative products, including clothing, scarves, schoolbags and accessories. The prosperous industry has created a large number of jobs for locals, considerably raising their income.
From 2005 to 2018, Betel Nut Valley implemented a number of tourism projects as a form of poverty alleviation, helping villagers use culture and tourism to lift themselves out of poverty.
The local government allocated about six million yuan (about $872 thousand) to build 123 shops for farmers to run independent businesses.
Before 2011, the average annual income of villagers here was little more than 10,000 yuan (about $1,453). Since 2011, by running shops at Betel Nut Valley, villagers’ average yearly income reached 50,000 yuan (about $7,257). Poverty rates in the area dropped from 19.06 to 0.26 percent.
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