A bird's eye view of Zhouduo village. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Zhouduo village in Hai'an, a county-level city in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, was recently listed as a Beautiful and Leisure Village of China in 2023, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Located in the Lixiahe region, which features numerous waterways and abundant aquatic resources, the village has in recent years made full use of its wetlands and local folk culture to develop unique leisure agriculture.

Villagers in Zhouduo village are busy harvesting water chestnuts in the water. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

In 2022, Zhouduo village received 144,000 tourists and generated 44.35 million yuan ($6.09 million) in leisure agriculture and rural tourism, including 31.2 million yuan from agricultural and sideline products and 1.55 million yuan from tickets, according to Su Xuping, secretary of the general Party branch of Zhouduo.

With fertile soil and many rivers, the village is renowned for its high-quality agricultural produce with rice and water chestnuts being the most popular.

This year, a total of 256 villages were rated as Beautiful and Leisure Villages of China, including 12 in Jiangsu.