Yuanshengtai Tourism Scenic Area

Yuanshengtai Tourism Scenic Area

Yuanshengtai Tourism Scenic Area is a National AA-level tourist attraction.

Yuanshengtai Tourism Scenic Area is located within the Forest Park Scenic Area at the hometown of Dongfang Shuo, covering an area of 1,000 mu. In 2015, it was rated as a National AA-level scenic area. It plants over 50 varieties of seedlings on more than 500 mu, totaling over 2 million plants, and includes five lotus and fish ponds covering a water surface area of over 100 mu. The area features a high-end badminton club, leisure vacation villas, fruit and vegetable picking gardens, fishing ponds, lotus ponds, and a children’s amusement park. It has developed eco-friendly practices such as free-range black pigs, free-range native chickens, organic vegetable cultivation, and loach farming. The scenic area offers a variety of functions including ecological sightseeing, water recreation and fishing, leisure vacations, health and wellness, and children’s entertainment, creating a multifunctional resort that showcases spring flowers and greenery, summer cooling and water play, autumn lotus picking and fruit harvesting, and winter pine waves and snow scenery.

Ecological Garden: The garden boasts over 200 common tree species, more than 60 types of flowers and plants, and over 10 kinds of crops, with a rich and diverse selection of fruits and melons. The main arboreal plants include cherry blossoms, crabapple, Chinese maple, London plane tree, black pine, lilac, hibiscus, crape myrtle, rose, black poplar, ash, and white poplar. The ground cover mainly consists of thatch grass, reed grass, foxtail grass, and field horsetail, creating a landscape that remains green all year round and blooms in three seasons.

Animal Paradise: Home to over 40 species including egrets, wild ducks, chicks, magpies, sparrows, owls, woodpeckers, badgers, rabbits, and weasels. Among them, 12 species are listed as Class II protected animals in China. Notable and precious species include egrets, cuckoos, Chinese bulbuls, thrushes, and woodpeckers, which hold significant conservation and scientific research value.

The scenic area covers more than 4,000 mu, with an investment of over 30 million yuan. It integrates green ecological dining and health-focused leisure, forming a comprehensive eco-tourism and leisure base.

The scenic area is divided into: garden seedling planting zone, picking zone, tribute red oil Chinese toon zone, vegetable planting zone, free-range black pig zone, aquatic farming and fishing zone, lotus root planting zone, crop planting zone, office zone, and leisure and entertainment zone.

Garden Seedling Zone: Current arboreal plants include scholar tree, ash, London plane tree, Beijing koelreuteria, Huangshan koelreuteria, chinaberry, populus tomentosa, fast-growing poplar, weeping willow, drought willow, and euonymus fortunei. Evergreen seedlings consist of dragon juniper, mugo pine, sand juniper, ground juniper, and oriental arborvitae. Flowering shrubs include over 100 varieties such as purple leaf peach, beauty mei, almond-leafed pear, crabapple, hibiscus, Bauhinia, lilac, forsythia, weigela, and Lonicera maackii, with over 1 million plants in total.

Free-Range Zone: The black pig area spans 50 mu. The free-range black pigs are hybrids of the original breed from Laiwu and local black pigs, raised using traditional rural feeding methods with pure grain feed, free from any hormones or additives.

The free-range black pigs roam within a nursery base of over 3,000 mu. They are fed only twice a day under the forest canopy, with a feed-to-bran ratio of 2:8, and supplement their diet by foraging naturally. Combined with exercise through herding, this method improves lean meat ratio and enhances disease resistance. The feeding cycle ensures over twelve months, with pigs reaching 90–100 kg, guaranteeing delicious meat quality. Yuanshengtai’s free-range black pigs are slaughtered and processed according to chilled fresh meat standards, producing high-end specialty pork.

Fruit Picking Zone: Includes peach trees, apricot trees, pear trees, apple trees, walnut trees, hawthorn trees, persimmon trees, and jujube trees. Greenhouses are built for cultivating strawberries and organic cucumbers.

Crop Planting Zone (200 mu): Grows wheat, corn, and soybeans, primarily to meet the feed needs of the free-range black pigs, ensuring the raw materials meet pollution-free standards.

Vegetable Planting Experience Zone: Uses well-rotted organic pig manure as fertilizer, planting seasonal varieties to ensure absolutely no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, delivering pollution-free green vegetables.

Aquatic Farming and Fishing Zone: Mainly raises grass carp, using weeds removed from the park as feed, without adding any artificial feed. This approach utilizes waste as natural feed, producing purely grass-fed, feed-free ecological grass carp.

Lotus Root Planting Zone: Cultivates “Bailiante” lotus root on 40 mu. The newly harvested lotus root is as white as jade, tender, crispy, and sweet, offering a refreshing and soothing taste. It is rich in starch, protein, sugar, and various vitamins.

Dining, Leisure, and Entertainment Zone: Offers a traditional style of rural tourism and leisure agriculture, featuring simple and affordable countryside cuisine, rustic houses and thatched cottages, understated yet charming rural entertainment facilities, and fashionable, grand flower plantings, making it a place people won’t want to leave.

Children’s Activity Zone: Combines countryside-style children’s entertainment facilities with those of modern cities, offering high interactivity. Newly introduced riding animals such as horses and camels, and viewing animals like peacocks, turkeys, and ostriches help children rediscover their innate sense of play.

Sandy Playground: Divided into a children’s zone and another area. The children’s zone focuses on activities like sand and water play and fishing. The other area features water rollers and bicycle activities. A blend of countryside-style children’s entertainment and urban modern elements provides high engagement and helps children reconnect with their natural instincts.

Farmhouse Dining, Leisure, and Entertainment Zone: Planned to cover 100 mu, constructing 100 old-style countryside thatched cottages with a total courtyard area of 6,000 square meters. Combining local rural dietary culture with wild vegetables from the park, it develops fresh medicinal and special vegetables, and equips facilities for entertainment suitable for all age groups to promote farmhouse tourism.

The scenic area is equipped with a 150-meter leisure sightseeing tree-lined corridor (with grape and various melon trellises), a high-end badminton club, chess and card entertainment facilities. A star-rated farmhouse has been built, providing comprehensive basic conditions for visitors’ “transportation, travel, accommodation, food, shopping, and entertainment.” In 2016, the park received 20,000 visitors, who gave high praise to the ecological black pork, organic vegetables, pollution-free grass carp, lotus root, and wild vegetables.

The scenic area follows the principle of “Environmental Protection, Everyone’s Responsibility” and aims for “Eco-friendly Diet, Health for All,” transforming the ecological environment and returning to a primitive state.

Information Source: Licheng District Chronicles Office