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A villager rows a boat on a lotus pond in Pingyuanchi village. [Photo/WeChat account: rugaofabu]

Pingyuanchi village, which is located in Rugao Economic and Technological Development Zone in Rugao, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, has become a popular tourist destination and has made great achievements in rural development due to its efforts to set up a cooperative that makes full use of local resources.

A lotus pond in the village, which covers more than 106.67 hectares of land, was recently included on a list of recommended idyllic villages published by the province's Department of Culture and Tourism, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

In order to utilize local resources effectively and reap more economic benefits, Pingyuanchi village has formed a cooperative. It has invited professionals from Tongji University in Shanghai to help plan the village's reconstruction and invested over 10 million yuan ($1.56 million) in the lotus pond.

The lotus pond is both a tourist site where visitors can go sightseeing and enjoy palatable specialties like lobsters and crabs, as well as a plantation where villages can grow lotus and take on other agricultural activities.