China’s ‘Richest Village’ Aims High With Very Own Helicopter Service
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Residents in China’s Huaxi village, located in the east of Jiangsu province, will now be able to enjoy free helicopter rides around their region, reported the China Daily on Tuesday, after Huaxi village officials set up the nation’s first ever village-owned aviation company, with an initial investment of 100 million yuan ($15.7 million).
Residents in China’s Huaxi village, located in the east of Jiangsu province, will now be able to enjoy free helicopter rides around their region, reported the China Daily on Tuesday, after Huaxi village officials set up the nation’s first ever village-owned aviation company, with an initial investment of 100 million yuan ($15.7 million).
The report noted that the newly created company, named Jiangsu Huaxi General Aviation, would be partly owned by the village’s residents; and will begin commercial activities – including commercial flights for sightseeing, emergency relief, pilot training, sky advertising and meteorological sounding – as early as this year.
But in the meantime, most of the village’s 2,000 residents have already flown in, or booked a flight, with the company, which presently owns two helicopters manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and Eurocopter.
By 2015, the company intends to expand its fleet to five helicopters and a jet plane, with more flights to be added to include other cities in the province.
Zhao Zhilong, deputy Party secretary of Huaxi, told the China Daily that the village’s residents only needed to reserve a seat just one day in advance, and that the free helicopter rides were just “part of the service that the village offers to its residents.”
Since 1961, Huaxi has experienced unprecedented success with its very own multi-sector industry company, Jiangsu Huaxi Group, which is listed on the Chinese stock exchange.
The villagers are all shareholders in the company and are paid one fifth of the company’s annual profits. Over the last five years alone, Huaxi has amassed revenues of over 229.6 billion yuan ($36.1 billion), while all of Huaxi’s residents are believed to be worth over $250,000.
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Consequently many migrants and nearby villagers have begun to flock to the area. According to Xinhua, there are now 20,000 migrant workers and 30,000 other villagers in and surrounding Huaxi, though the village’s perks are only offered to its original 2,000 residents.
[quote]”My father was wealthy. Now I want that the villagers will also be that and healthy and happy,” said the village chief, Wu Xieen.[/quote]Last October, the village also celebrated the construction of a 1,076ft skyscraper hotel, which is the 15th highest building in the world.
The 74-storey Longxi International Hotel cost 3 billion yuan ($471 million) to build; and has a solid gold ox statue on its 60th floor.
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The village eventually plans to charge 1,000 yuan to tourists for a 15-minute sightseeing flight on its helicopters.
Nicknamed “the number one village in the sky”, Huaxi attracted 2 million tourists, mostly from other parts of China, last year.
Watch Videos: “Huaxi: the village that towers above China” & “Huaxi: Secrets of China’s richest village” below.
