Warm winter sunshine bathed Xikou Village in Mingshuihe Town, Arxan, Inner Mongolia, as a vibrant village song echoed from the loudspeakers. The lyrics celebrated unity and the beautiful murals depicting good times.

"The song sings about our happy Xikou," said Ding Zhe, the village's first resident secretary. The wall paintings in Xikou Village have gained significant popularity, making it a renowned artistic landmark. It is hard to imagine that such a trendy village was once home to the largest number of impoverished households in the area.

Located at the wind gap of the southern Daxing'anling Mountains, at the source of the Tao'er River west of Ma'an Mountain, Xikou Village sits at the junction of farming, forestry, and animal husbandry. It serves as a cultural gateway where immigrant and forestry customs converge, explained Qi Xuedong, a representative of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional People's Congress and head of the Arxan Municipal Committee's Propaganda Department, during the 2026 Inner Mongolia Two Sessions.

Constrained by climate and transportation limitations, Xikou was once the poorest region in Arxan City. In 2017, with support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the village shed its impoverished status. Subsequently, it focused on developing rural tourism based on an eco-tourism development philosophy.

According to Qi Xuedong, in 2019, a first secretary dispatched by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism settled in Xikou Village. They formulated a development plan centered on "Art + Cultural Tourism," secured special financial funds, and supported artistic creation, infrastructure renovation, the construction of intangible cultural heritage workshops, and the establishment of a cultural tourism company. Collaborations were formed with institutions like the China Art Vocational Education Society, Zhejiang Tourism College, and national art troupes such as the China National Traditional Orchestra, creating a co-construction model involving "villagers + institutions + enterprises + government."

Nestled within the Daxing'anling Mountains, this small village quietly underwent a remarkable transformation from a "traditional farming" community to an "art village."

Starting in 2023, Xikou Village began hosting the "Beautiful Arxan Rural Culture and Art Season" annually, attracting teachers and students from numerous art colleges across the country to reside and create in the village. Using the village as their canvas, they completed over 3,000 square meters of wall paintings and created dozens of art installations. This gradually formed distinctive spaces like the Nanshan Rural Art Circle and the Kanshan Art Gallery, turning the concept of an "art village" into a tangible reality.

In 2024, led by Ding Zhe, the village systematically documented the culture of the Tao'er River basin, excavating village historical archives, family records, and oral histories. They transformed an unused old village office into a 168-square-meter Tao'er River Cultural Museum.

"Today, this place is not only a spiritual home for villagers to reminisce but also a window for tourists to perceive the village's history and warmth," Ding Zhe said.

Entering Xikou Village is like opening a storybook. "Our homestays here are very distinctive, each themed around one of the twenty-four solar terms, all unique," excitedly introduced Bao Yong, Secretary of the Xikou Village Party Branch. The homestay and public space designs incorporate traditional cultural elements like "spring ploughing, summer weeding, autumn harvest, and winter storage," featuring distinct themes and a unified style.

In the village's willow weaving training classroom, Dong Yali, an inheritor of the craft, instructs students hand-in-hand on making willow products. Under nimble fingers, flexible willow twigs are transformed into exquisite handicrafts.

Dong Yali stated that through systematic training, villagers blend traditional techniques with modern design, turning everyday agricultural willow weaving into cultural and creative products that combine artistry and practicality. "Willow weaving has not only become a popular course for study tours but has also helped over 20 households achieve an average annual income increase of more than 4,000 yuan per household."

"I used to only weave simple baskets; now I've learned various complex patterns, and willow weaving has become my secret to increasing income," said villager Li Yanjiao with a smile.

Through the innovative model of "Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop + Art Village," Xikou Village has forged a development path achieving a win-win situation for "fingertip economy" and cultural inheritance.

To standardize operations, the village established the Xikou Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd. in 2025. The company is responsible for unified brand management, product development, and market promotion. It developed the 3.0 version of the "Xikou Eighteen Bowls" "Story Banquet," integrating local specialties with human narratives. It also connected various points into themed tours, launching immersive travel routes like "Adopt a Cow" and "Pasture Parent-Child Tours."

Also in 2025, Xikou Village successfully attained National 2A-level Tourist Attraction status. This became a "golden key" for the village to access broader markets, leading to its inclusion in recommended itineraries by several travel agencies and a significant year-on-year increase in independent tourist visits.

Qi Xuedong noted that through its transformation from a traditional village to an art scenic area, Xikou Village's collective economy grew from zero revenue in 2018 to exceeding one million yuan by 2025. The funds are used for villager dividends, elderly subsidies, educational rewards, and public facility maintenance, with per capita annual collective benefits surpassing 1,000 yuan. Stable employment has driven social security coverage, achieving a 100% villager participation rate.

Today, visitors can ascend the Nanshan Rural Art Circle to enjoy panoramic views of Xikou's new landscape, listen to melodious village tunes, try their hand at willow weaving, savor the "Xikou Eighteen Bowls," and immerse themselves in the rural philosophy of "slow planting, slow raising, slow life."