In Qinghe County, Xingtai City in north China's Hebei Province, 10,000 mu (about 667 hectares) of hawthorn trees are bringing residents significant earnings.

Farmers in the county have been planting hawthorns since the 1980s. The thousands of hawthorn trees help protect the country from sandstorms and provide a sustainable income for the community, as the beautiful scenery of blooming flowers entices numerous tourists.

The local government has also held hawthorn flower festivals for the past seven consecutive years to further boost tourism.

"We can receive over 2,000 tourists every day. Tourists come to the hawthorn flowers base to appreciate the flowers and to taste products, including tea and wine that made from hawthorn," said Gao Junying, director of the Matun Hawthorn Planting Cooperative in Qinghe County.

The hawthorn forest in Qinghe County produces over 75,000 tonnes of hawthorns every year, valued at about 150 million yuan (about $23.2 million).

The county has also stepped up efforts to build a rural ecological, scenic spot to integrate sightseeing with the hawthorn tree base.

(Cover image via VCG)

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