An old village in Songyang county. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

Not too long ago, Songyang county was a relatively desolate area where the main form of subsistence was farming.

Today, many of the villages have been transformed into hip tourist destinations featuring a host of homestays, cafes, bars and even pet stores.

In fact, more than half of the county's villagers are now involved in running such businesses instead of farming. This trend, which was started by the young villagers, has in turn injected vitality into the ancient villages.

Many of these young entrepreneurs have also been leveraging social media and livestreaming to promote local cuisine and drive online sales of agricultural products.

One such person is Xia Hongyan from Zhu'e village in Xinxing town. Xia started her Douyin account in 2019 to showcase the charm of the countryside and unique rural experiences that those living in highly urbanized cities will never encounter. To date, Xia has posted 239 short videos that have been viewed tens of millions of times. One video in particular was viewed more than 20 million times.

Her livestreaming promotions on major e-commerce platforms have also amassed a legion of followers.