This undated photo shows a view of Jieshang Village in Gaopo Township, Guiyang, southwest China"s Guizhou Province. (Xinhua)

　　GUIYANG, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- He Zhicheng returned to his mountain village in southwest China"s Guizhou Province in 2024 to open a farmhouse restaurant, after eight years on the Foxconn assembly line in Zhengzhou, capital of central China"s Henan Province -- some 1,500 kilometers away.

　　"When I worked away from home, I barely got to see my family," He said. "Now, I drop my eldest daughter off at school every morning, and revolve my days around the restaurant, looking after my younger daughter while serving guests."

　　His return is hardly unique in his native Jieshang Village. The community is now drawing more young people back home by tapping into its historical heritage -- revolutionary sites linked to the Red Army"s Long March, the epic 1934-1936 trek that broke through Kuomintang siege -- and advancing rural development.

　　In April 1935, the Red Army made a stopover in Jieshang to rest and regroup during the Long March, forging close ties with local residents. Today, the village still preserves the slogans the soldiers painted, the billets where they stayed, and the grave of civilians who supported them.

　　The village, however, had long struggled to develop, hindered by its remote, mountainous location and scattered farmland. "Collective revenue was meager, and we had no signature industry," recalled Yang Lun, the village Party secretary.

　　The year 2023 marked a major turning point, as Jieshang was selected as a pilot village for a national program to develop "beautiful and revolutionary" rural communities, thereby securing both policy support and funding.