Cinnamon Industry and Improved Transport Drive Rural Revitalization in Hetou Town, Guangdong

In Hexi Village, Hetou Town of Xinxing County, Yunfu City, Guangdong Province, lush cinnamon forests cover the mountains, filling the air with a unique aromatic scent. It is currently the peak harvest season for cinnamon, and villagers head to the mountains early on sunny days to collect the spice, skillfully stripping cinnamon bark from tree trunks. Bundles of cinnamon bark are transported to purchasing points by trucks along mountain roads, presenting a busy and joyful harvest scene.

Hexi Village boasts a long history of cinnamon planting, with its unique climate and geographical conditions nurturing high-quality cinnamon with a strong aroma. China Daily reports that the village’s cinnamon planting area reaches more than 5,000 mu. This year, the purchasing price of cinnamon is around 2.2 yuan per catty, and the village has already purchased about 500,000 catties, with an output value of 1.1 million yuan. The output is expected to continue increasing in the coming period.

A key boost to the local cinnamon industry comes from improved transportation. Previously, Hexi Village, located deep in the mountains, suffered from inconvenient transport, which hindered the export of local specialty products. This year, the situation has been fundamentally changed with the renovation of County Road X484 Hetou Section, upgraded from a Class IV to Class III road. As the main road connecting Hexi Village to the national highway, the widened and upgraded road not only facilitates villagers’ daily travel but also provides a convenient logistics channel for cinnamon, tea oil and other high-quality local products to be sold to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In recent years, taking the opportunity of advancing the "Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Project", Hetou Town has focused on its local resource endowments and ecological advantages of being surrounded by mountains and rivers to develop the "local specialty economy". It has successfully cultivated a number of characteristic agricultural products, including Bulang honey, Liaokeng lychee, Wanzhong bamboo shoots, Hexi cinnamon and Louxia peanuts, all of which have obtained provincial professional certification, forming a distinctive "Hetou-branded" specialty system.

People’s Daily Online notes that the thriving cinnamon industry in Hexi Village is a vivid practice of Hetou Town’s adherence to the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". With improved transport and booming industries, villagers are more motivated than ever to pursue a better life.

Looking ahead, Hetou Town will continue to vigorously develop under-forest economy, revitalize idle mountain resources and deepen the development of traditional industries such as southern medicinal herbs, bamboo shoots and honey. It will extend industrial chains to improve quality and efficiency, while fostering new formats including leisure health care, low-altitude economy and popular science research. This will turn the town’s ecological advantages into economic benefits, helping villagers increase their income and painting a new picture of rural revitalization.