A guesthouse in Junying village which is owned by a young villager named Gao Zhiyun. [Photo by Xu Wenjin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Significant changes have taken place in the two mountain villages since 2019. Among the most obvious of changes is the return of young villagers who are eager to tap the new opportunities available.

Among them is Gao Zhiyun, who returned to his village in 2017 to open a guesthouse, as well as those who have started offering agritainment programs to tourists.

There are currently 13 agritainment businesses and 67 guesthouses in the two villages.

In 2020, Junying's collective income reached 729,000 yuan ($114,738) while the per capita income of villagers stood at 41,665 yuan. Over at Baijiaoci, the collective income and per capita income of villagers were 637,600 yuan and 41,280 yuan respectively.

Besides economic benefits, the development of these villages has also resulted in accolades being won.

For instance, Junying village has been awarded several titles over the years, including "civilized village" and "most beautiful casual village in China" in 2015, "national civilized village" in 2017, and "national key village for rural tourism" in 2020.

Baijiaoci village was similarly awarded the "civilized village" title in 2015, the "beautiful casual village in China" title in 2018 and the "provincial advanced green village" title in 2020.