An aerial view of the Digang Village in Zhejiang Photo: Xinhua

Four Chinese villages have been named the 2025 "Best Tourism Villages" by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) told the Global Times during an awarding ceremony held in East China's Zhejiang Province on Friday.

The newly recognized villages are Huanggang in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jikayi in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dongluo in East China's Jiangsu Province and Digang in Zhejiang Province.

With these additions, a total of 19 Chinese villages have now been recognized as "Best Tourism Villages." A total of 52 villages from 29 countries around the world were selected for the title this year, the MCT told the Global Times.

Ranging from the southwestern mountains and highland gorges to the river towns of the Jiangnan region, these four villages have distinctive features in terms of natural landscape, cultural identity, and development path. Together, they illustrate diverse approaches of rural development under different ecological conditions and reveal the rich and multifaceted evolution of rural tourism in China, according to MCT.

From a cultural perspective, the living heritage of the Dong ethnic group's Grand Song in Huanggang, the agrarian traditions of Dongluo, the vibrant Tibetan folk customs of Jikayi, and the ecological cultivation wisdom behind  the "mulberry-dyke and fish-pond system" of Digang together showcase the depth and vitality of Chinese culture.

A living museum of Chinese sericulture, Digang preserves the national-level intangible cultural heritage of silk weaving and craftsmanship. Meanwhile, Dongluo, also listed as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) and a World Irrigation Engineering Heritage site, boasts over 600 years of continuous cultivation and cultural inheritance.

Covering 2,300 mu (about 153 hectares) of terraced fields, 374 wooden homes, five drum towers, and more than 400 granaries, Huanggang is hailed as a "living architectural epic." The highland of Jikayi features 22 towers, reflecting yin-yang symmetry and matrilineal heritage, now on UNESCO's Tentative World Heritage List.
To promote rural tourism, UN Tourism launched the Best Tourism Villages initiative in 2021 to promote rural tourism by recognizing villages worldwide that excel in nurturing local communities and preserving landscapes, cultural diversity, local values and culinary traditions.