‘2020 Good Neighbor Bright Neighborhood’ Award... Boseong Hoecheon Yeongcheon Village Winner

What Is the Secret Behind 'Hoecheon Yeongcheon Village,' This Year's Best Village?

[Boseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Boseong County is actively achieving results in creating livable villages by promoting this year’s key policy, the resident-participatory village beautification project ‘Boseong 600: Our Neighborhood, Our Care,’ where residents directly cultivate their living environment.

On the 27th, Jeollanam-do Boseong County announced that Yeongcheon Village in Hoecheon-myeon received the prestigious Grand Prize at the ‘2020 Good Neighbor Bright Village’ awards on the 26th.

Jointly hosted by Jeollanam-do, Gwangju Metropolitan City, and the KBC Cultural Foundation, the ‘Good Neighbor Bright Village’ award is given to individuals and organizations who lead efforts to create a vibrant community through dedication and service for regional development.

This year’s grand prize winner, Yeongcheon Village in Hoecheon-myeon, was highly evaluated for △ its significant contribution to the registration of the terraced tea fields as a National Agricultural Heritage site and the revitalization of the Boseong tea industry, △ the active utilization of regionally specialized experiential cultural tourism products such as the Cheongmyeong Tea-making experience, and △ the village’s proactive efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, forming a safe village community.

In particular, Yeongcheon Village residents hold village chicken parties every two months, organize communal meals during busy farming seasons, and actively participate in decisions on major village matters, fostering excellent communication and harmony among residents. Most residents are engaged in the tea industry and annually participate in the Cheongmyeong Tea event, where they harvest the first tea leaves together and make tea.

Additionally, through the sixth industrialization, the village has attracted over 5,000 tourists annually. In 2019, it signed a $400,000 export contract for Boseong tea with Amazon, the world’s largest online shopping mall, and played a key role in registering the Boseong terraced tea fields as the 11th National Agricultural Heritage site.

County Governor Kim Cheol-woo said, “I am very pleased that Yeongcheon Village in Hoecheon was selected as this year’s best village, a valuable award representing Boseong County,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to realize true local autonomy where residents are the owners through active support for village community activities.”