Apples from Xinzhangzi Township

Apples from Xinzhangzi Township

　　Xinzhangzi Township is located in the western part of Chengde County, 25.2 kilometers from the county seat. It covers an area of 97.7 square kilometers and had a population of 13,300 in 2002. The township administers 10 administrative villages.

　　　“Experience rural life on a farm, enjoy the countryside scenery, stay in a farmhouse, take part in farm work, and savor homegrown meals”—this authentic agritourism experience full of rustic charm has truly delighted urban sightseers and brought economic benefits to the farmers of Xinzhangzi Township in Chengde County. Since 2005, the township has been committed to developing agritourism and leisure entertainment industries. Leveraging its fruit production advantages, it has focused on expanding orchard scale, improving fruit quality, and upgrading infrastructure, continuously optimizing conditions for tourism and fruit picking. This has accelerated the growth of the agritourism industry. To date, the township has developed 15 high-quality fruit-picking gardens, with an 8-month picking season, receiving over 8,300 fruit-picking tourists and selling 300,000 kilograms of high-quality fruits.

　　　　Leveraging Fruit Advantages & Optimizing Growing Conditions

　　　　Xinzhangzi Township has consistently prioritized the construction of fruit industry bases as a key strategy to enhance the overall quality of its fruit sector. By leveraging the national policy of converting farmland back to forest, the township has established four major fruit industry bases (a 10,000-mu high-quality apple orchard base, a 1,000-mu strawberry base, a one-million-jujube grafted-on-big-jujube base, and a 10,000-mu mountain apricot forest base), as well as six economic demonstration zones (the Dadongying Village tropical and subtropical fruit ecological demonstration zone, the Sifangying-Wangmazigou rainwater-harvesting orchard project demonstration zone, the Nantai Village cherry and chestnut ecological demonstration zone, the Xinzhangzi Village Nanshan fruit wind-powered water-lifting project ecological demonstration zone, the Weiziyu Village integrated apple and strawberry planting demonstration zone, and the Liangyicheng Village peach, pear, and apricot demonstration zone). The total area of dry and fresh fruit orchards has reached 25,000 mu.　　

　　 In 2003, the township successfully registered the “Xinzhangzi Brand” agricultural product trademark with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. In 2005, it was designated by Hebei Province as a pollution-free apple production base. To meet the seasonal demands of tourism and fruit picking, while strengthening the core apple production, the township has timely adjusted and optimized its fruit variety structure to ensure several pickable varieties are available in every season, extending the fruit-picking season from the previous 6 months to 8 months. To date, the township has developed 6,000 mu of apple orchards, 3,500 mu of pear orchards, 2,300 mu of peach orchards, 1,500 mu of apricot orchards, 1,500 mu of jujube orchards, and 1,800 mu of plum orchards, with products being sold in cities such as Beijing and Tianjin.