Zhang Guifang, a young woman in Sanjia village, Shilin township, Hebi city, central China's Henan Province, has brought prosperity to her fellow villagers after she returned to her hometown. In December 2020, Zhang, who ran a B&B business in north China's Tianjin Municipality, answered the call to revitalize the place where she was born. She was then elected as Party chief and villagers' committee head of Sanjia village.
She soon found that the village was deep in debt and had no major industries. However, she decided to do something new to bring hope to the village. Zhang then came up with the idea of painting the walls in Sanjia village to turn the village into a big "B&B hotel," which was questioned by many villagers.
She invited a painter born in the 1980s to draw beautiful pictures on the walls of houses in the village. She also led villagers to clear the trash and renovate houses and streets, making the village clean and tidy. Zhang Guifang (1st from right) and villagers hold pumpkins in Sanjia village, Shilin township, Hebi city, central China's Henan Province.
(Photo/Li Yang) The village's beautiful wall paintings gradually attracted some visitors from urban areas. Zhang invited locally famous vloggers and reporters to the village to enhance its image. On June 16, 2021, Sanjia village made its first appearance in newspapers as a village featuring colorful wall paintings.
Shortly after, the village attracted the attention of more media outlets both from and beyond the .
