Gaoxigou Village:A Model of Good Governesson the Loess Plateau

Gaoxigou Village is located in Mizhi County in northern Shaanxi, with a total area of four square kilometers. Sitting in the hilly gullied area of the Loess Plateau, the village was once bleak and barren due to serious soil erosion. Bare hillside, under which turbid water follows, Disasters year and year leave no grain to farmers.The doggerel vividly depicts the ecological environment of Gaoxigou Village more than six decades ago.

In the 1970s, after the initial trial, villagers of Gaoxigou gradually established the principle of "planting crops, trees or grass based on conditions", and formed a "three-thirds system", with the land for trees and forests, the land for grass and pasture, and the land to grow crops for agriculture accounting for one third of the total land area respectively. This system guaranteed the food supply in Gaoxigou and significantly improved the local environment, keeping silt within mountains instead of flowing into the Yellow River.

Entering the 21st century, villagers of Gaoxigou have actively followed the trend of the times, got on the circular track of sound development characterized by coordinated ecological and economic development and harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and formed a new ecological industrial structure of forestry, animal husbandry and agriculture, with forest land, grassland and farmland developing in the proportion of 3:2:1.

Nowadays in Gaoxigou, the Loess Plateau is lushly dressed by woods, orchards and pasture. The village now enjoys a forest and grass coverage rate of 70%, with 2,300 mu of ecological forestry, 1,000 mu of economic forestry, 126 large and small silt dams.

Based on its green wealth, Gaoxigou village vigorously develops ecological tourism, attracting a growing number of tourists to enjoy the "wonderful southern scenery" in the folds of loess. What was out of reach is now a reality. Gaoxigou, a forerunner in soil conservation and ecological development, now features layers of terraces atop mountains and fruit trees with strong aroma spreading everywhere in the valley. Amidst the lush mountains and lucid waters, industries such as millet and apple planting and sheep raising are flourishing.