An international rural construction art festival opens in Gejia village, Ninghai county, East China's Zhejiang province on April 26. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

Gejia village recently has sent an invitation welcoming expats to get involved in the village's campaign to achieve rural revitalization via art.

The invitation was made during an international rural construction art festival, which opened in the village located in Ninghai county, East China's Zhejiang province on April 26.

Gejia village has taken on a completely new look after an art design campaign initiated last April by Cong Zhiqiang, an associate art professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

In the campaign, local villagers were encouraged to renovate their surroundings using art. The village has since become a popular rural tourism destination.

Now, expats are also invited to contribute their wisdom in the village's construction.

A facility named the International Rural Construction Art Center was inaugurated in the village at the festival. To date, expats from more than 20 countries have expressed willingness to participate in the building's construction.

Expats will be invited to live in Gejia village from time to time and join local villagers in refurnishing the village with art, said Jiang Hongsheng, head of the Red Peony School of Ningbo Open University.

Guests like Marek Ciesielczuk, consul general of the Republic of Poland in Shanghai, as well as Magdalena Gimbut and Artur Piotr Rega, a doctoral couple working at Ningbo Tech University, attended the opening ceremony.

Gejia village exemplifies the efforts made by local authorities in rural revitalization. In 2019, Ninghai county launched a campaign to promote the role of art in rural revitalization, which attracted a number of college art teachers and students to the county.