Zhangjiagang, a county-level city in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, has been making efforts to improve the rural environment and living conditions of 148 villages in the past decade.

For example, Xinhaiba village in Daxin town had shut down all factories along the river to protect the ecological environment.

Zhangjiagang has also been encouraging the renovation of traditional courtyard houses in villages. Due to these efforts, 30 rural courtyard houses in Xuetian village have been rated as "Suzhou beautiful courtyard houses", and 10 of them made the list of the model courtyard houses in Suzhou in 2021.

Zhangjiagang currently has five demonstration towns and 44 demonstration villages for rural environmental improvement. Two rural environment improvement cases in the city had also made the list of the national model cases of innovation in the rural culture industry.

Over at Changfeng village in Leyu town, authorities have launched a system through which villagers can accumulate points through voluntary efforts in rural environmental improvement. These points can be redeemed for daily necessities.  

Since the village launched the system in 2019, a total of 3,368 people have participated in voluntary activities. The system is currently being implemented in 112 villages in the city.

Today, all villages in Zhangjiagang have modern toilets and wastewater treatment facilities due to efforts to improve living conditions.

Other similar measures taken include the launch of an inspection mechanism in 2019 to appraise the environment of all villages. Villages ranked in the top 10 will each be awarded with 50,000 yuan ($6,915).

A village in Zhangjiagang. [Photo/jrwx.zjgonline.com]