June 5, 2017 -- During the Dragon Boat Festival, Zhuanzigou, a Tibetan village in southwest China’s Sichuan, welcomed tourists from all over the country. Apart from the distinctive Tibetan style in the village, villagers’ thriftiness impressed its visitors deeply.

 

There are 55 households in the village. Many years ago, the village was known for its poverty. Because of the barren land, villagers were hard to feed themselves and had to borrow grain and food from others.

 

The situation changed until the end of last century, when local tourism was developed and the village began to lift itself out of poverty. Today, villagers have lived a well-off life, but they are still used to a frugal lifestyle.

 

Villager Longbota now has an asset of over one million yuan through providing catering and accommodation services to travelers. He lives a frugal life though. 

 

A few years ago, he took home all the leftovers from his son’s wedding. Some young people were puzzled by his behavior, while he simply replied, “Didn’t your parents tell you they had to borrow food from far away years ago?” 

 

Now, many young villagers also take home the leftovers after a get-together. 

 

The young villagers’ sense of thriftiness came not only from their elders but also the overall culture of the village. After the economic conditions improved, Zhuanzigou village had a village-wide meeting to make rules regarding saving and frugality. In addition, every home inn in the village is evaluated and given a star-based rating. The evaluation includes wastefulness and dishonesty to customers, etc. The rating is displayed outside the entrance of each home inn. 

 

Now, thrifty and saving-oriented culture is part of everyone’s mindset, even becoming part of many families’ own rules.