'Yimeng spirit' kindles rural vitalization

Linyi has long been known as the cradle of the "Yimeng spirit", which was cultivated during China's struggle for liberation in the 1930s and 40s. In order to improve cherry cultivation, Party members in the village took the lead in running a cherry cultivation cooperative, and also set up the Lijiazhai Cherry Research Institute, which cooperates with experts from universities and research institutes to cultivate new varieties of cherries and provide free training to villagers. Cherries produced in Lijiazhai have been listed in the national catalogue of "Famous, Special and Excellent" agricultural products, and Lijiazhai has won the reputation of the "No 1 Cherry Village in China", with an annual output of 20 million kilograms and an output value of 240 million yuan. In recent years, the village Party branch has been promoting the local cherry industry's transition into high value-added sectors. Lijiazhai Cherry Science and Technology Demonstration Park and a research center for large cherry planting and processing have been established to cultivate, promote and demonstrate new cherry varieties, and research cherry wine, cherry juice, preserved cherries and other deep-processed and innovative cherry products.