Yonglian town in Zhangjiagang, East China's Jiangsu province, plans to develop rural tourism relying on local ecological advantages.

Yongliantown is considered China's most charming leisure countryside. It is a national 4-A level tourist resort, and among China's top 10 international countryside destinations.

Rural tourism has seen robust growth in Yonglian town during recent years as more city-dwellers look for a taste of country life, and has played a significant role in promoting rural economic development.

Yonglian town attracts over one million visitors every year. At the Milan Expo 2015, it starred as a successful example of rural urbanization in China.

Yonglian town, as "the future of the Chinese countryside", has become a rural tourist resort combining sightseeing, leisure vocation, shopping and business activity. Highlights include a water paradise, fishing center, freshwater food street and agricultural culture park in the Jiangnan style found south of the Yangtze River.

Yonglian town surrounded with water offers picturesque scenery. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]