Small Parks Drive Major Livelihood Improvements, Strong Industries Activate New Development Momentum
In the autumn of Lingnan, vitality abounds. Between the Yunshan Mountains and the Pearl River, vibrant towns and streets are vividly interpreting the wonderful chapter of “old city, new vitality” with a striving and pioneering spirit. From the smart engine of the sci-tech innovation highland to the transformation pulse of the industrial frontline; from the exquisite renovation of ancient villages to the new chapter of governance in bustling streets… Every inch of land writes a vivid footnote to Guangzhou’s high-quality development.
Striving for the “15th Five-Year Plan” and striving to create new advantages and achieve new breakthroughs at a new starting point is a major mission entrusted to Guangzhou by the times. To implement the spirit of the 10th Plenary Session of the 12th Municipal Party Committee, this newspaper launches the “Vital Towns and Streets Research Tour” series of reports from today, focusing the lens on the grassroots and extending the writing to the frontline. Let us together explore those vivid innovation codes, record the steadfast struggling figures, listen to the touching development stories, and jointly feel the strong heartbeat and solid footsteps of Guangzhou moving towards the future.
“Every morning, I ride an electric bike for 10 minutes to bring my grandchildren here to play. There are rock climbing, slides, and trampolines. They are so happy!” Grandma Wang, who lives near Mark Village in Dongchong Town, Nansha, Guangzhou, said with a smile, pointing to the children running in Mark Village Under-bridge Park. Opened to the public on May 1 this year, this park was once an idle bridge bottom piled with sundries. Now it receives over 6,000 visitors per day on average, setting a record of 10,000 daily visitors during the May Day holiday. It has become a “check-in destination” for nearby villagers and even tourists from the Pearl River Delta, completely igniting the vitality of this village.
The transformation of Mark Village Under-bridge Park is a vivid microcosm of Dongchong Town, Nansha District, Guangzhou, promoting the construction of “hub vitality, cultural vitality, innovation vitality, institutional vitality, and ecological vitality”. Since 2024, with a spirit of “striving, seizing opportunities, and being pragmatic”, Dongchong Town has continued to make efforts in industrial upgrading, cultural-tourism integration, and livelihood improvement. In 2024, it achieved a total industrial output value of 25.53 billion yuan for above-scale industries. In the third quarter of 2025, the industrial output value of above-scale industries increased by 9.9% year-on-year, and the turnover of above-limit catering industry increased by 167.6%. It has realized a “great improvement” in the vitality of towns and streets through a series of “small-cut” measures.
Agglomeration of Sci-tech Industries to Build a New Highland for Bay Area Cooperation
Moving forward along Junma Avenue in Mark Village, there are factories on both sides but no noise of traditional industries—Guangdong Stake Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. in the mobile phone accessories field, Guangdong Huanyu Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. focusing on elevator parts manufacturing, and Guangdong Wanjia Tongyixun Communication Technology Co., Ltd. in the communication equipment field are laid out in an orderly manner. “Basically, they are all sci-tech enterprises, without high-pollution factories.” Relevant person in charge of Dongchong Town told reporters, pointing to the clean and tidy factories. This thriving industrial scene is a concrete embodiment of the hub vitality of Dongchong Town.
As an important industrial bearing area in Nansha, the “hub advantage” of Dongchong Town is first reflected in the high-standard construction of the Qingsheng Hub Area. At present, the area has gathered high-end scientific and educational resources such as The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) and Nanhua Industry and Trade Technician College, built the achievement transformation base of HKUST (Guangzhou), and incubated 29 sci-tech projects here. In 2025, high-quality projects such as Ins 百 Technology and Lisheng New Energy have settled in successively. Through the continuous holding of “Venture Capital π Match” activities, enterprises such as Lisheng New Energy and Minjia Manufacturing have reached cooperation with the scientific research team of HKUST (Guangzhou), and an innovative ecosystem of “fund + enterprise + scientific research institution” has initially taken shape.
“I used to work outside, but now I do assembly work in a local sci-tech enterprise in the village. I can earn money at work and accompany my children to the park after work.” Xiao Lin, a villager of Mark Village who works in a nearby company, spoke of the benefits brought by industrial development to the villagers. Through land transfer, the per capita annual rent income of Mark Village villagers has increased from 700 yuan to 3,300 yuan, the annual collective rent income of the village has increased by more than 1.8 million yuan, and more than 120 villagers have realized local employment.
Integration of Culture and Tourism to Create a New IP for Water Town
“During the day, I experience intangible cultural heritage skills in ‘Dongchongli’, in the evening I take a boat tour to enjoy the scenery in ‘Water Moonlit Night with Flowers’, and the next day I go cycling and flower viewing on Dawen Greenway. Such a weekend is so pleasant!” Mr. Zhou, a tourist from downtown Guangzhou, shared his cultural and tourism experience in Dongchong.
Dongchong Town deeply understands that “culture is the best IP”. It has thoroughly explored local characteristics such as the life of water townspeople, saltwater ballads, water wedding customs, and dragon boat culture, and created a number of consumption scenarios that thrive both day and night. In the construction of the charming water town, the “Dongchongli” characteristic commercial street gathers intangible cultural heritage handicrafts and cultural and creative products, and the “Water Moonlit Night with Flowers” night tour project allows tourists to immerse themselves in the customs of Lingnan water towns; after the upgrading and renovation of the Ebony Museum and Wedding Museum, new business forms such as the Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum and Under-tree Coffee have settled in one after another, enriching the cultural and tourism experience continuously.
Guantan Agricultural Park is one of the “blockbusters” that have made Dongchong’s cultural and tourism industry popular. Covering an area of more than 150 mu, this park implements the “three-crop rotation a year” of sunflowers, colorful rapeseed flowers, and seasonal flowers, ensuring blooming flowers all year round, with a peak of 40,000 daily visitors.
The integration of culture and tourism has helped Dongchong gain popularity: from January to August 2025, Dongchong Town has held more than 30 cultural and sports activities such as theme concerts and basketball games, benefiting 500,000 people; after the upgrading and renovation of Dongchong Basketball Court, active NBA star James Harden was invited to attend the opening ceremony, further enhancing the visibility of “Water Rhythm Dongchong”.
Upgrading of Green and Beautiful Construction to Paint a New Livable Picture
“When the vegetables in Taishi Agricultural Park ripen, they will be given free to the village’s senior canteen and nursing home. We elderly can eat fresh vegetables, and our hearts are warm.” Elderly Grandma Li said. In Dongchong Town, ecological construction is not only a “face project” but also a “livelihood project”.
Since 2025, Dongchong Town has fully promoted the construction of green and beautiful ecology. Combined with the “Golden Corners and Silver Edges” special action, it has revitalized corner lands such as bridge bottoms, street corners, and river courses, and built more than 20 high-quality projects such as Mark Village Under-bridge Park, with a total area of 66,000 square meters; it has added more than 20 mu of urban green space and nearly 150 mu of rural afforestation using corner lands and idle lands; Shipai Village Park has been rated as an ancient tree park, and archives have been established for all 7 ancient and famous trees and 53 follow-up resources of ancient trees in the town, realizing refined management and protection.
Mark Village Under-bridge Park has precisely addressed the pain point of lack of entertainment and sports facilities in the surrounding area, and set up three functional areas: cultural exhibition area, children’s play area, and fitness area, meeting the leisure needs of all age groups. It has not only boosted the business of the food street at the village entrance but also become the “social center” of the villagers. “In the past, I could only walk at the village entrance after dinner. Now there are 500 to 600 people in the park every day. Neighbors chat, exercise, and take care of children, and the relationship has become closer.” Villager Uncle Wang said.
From the idle bridge bottom transformed into a “happy space” of Mark Village Under-bridge Park, to the specialized and sophisticated industrial park with an annual output value of over 3.4 billion yuan; from Guantan Agricultural Park with 40,000 daily visitors to the livelihood answer sheet of more than 120 villagers realizing local employment, Dongchong Town has taken the “five vitalities” as the starting point and achieved “great breakthroughs” in town development through a series of “small-cut” measures.
Today’s Dongchong Town has prosperous industries, booming cultural tourism, warm people’s livelihood, and beautiful ecology—the sci-tech innovation momentum of Qingsheng Hub continues to be released, the brand influence of water town cultural tourism continues to expand, villagers’ wallets are getting fuller, and the living environment is becoming more and more livable.