Socialist Paradise: A Tour of China's 'Number One Village Under The Sky' (PHOTO)

Founded over 50 years ago, the once ordinary settlement of Huaxi, located in the Jiangsu Province of China, became known as the richest village in the country and the Number One Village Under The Sky.

Huaxi was founded in 1961, and has since become the most prosperous village in China.

All villagers live in their own residences, with each household owning at least one car; education and healthcare in the village are both free, according to RIA Novosti.

Huaxi is the only village in the world that sports a skyscraper – the 328-meter tall Longxi International Hotel.

This aerial photo taken on September 25 shows the Longxi International Hotel, standing at 328 metres (1,082-feet) high and costing 470 million USD to build, in Huaxi, which is still classed as a village in east China's Jiangsu province

© AFP 2023 / STR

Some 80 industrial plants located in the village, most of them producing metals and textile products, export to 40 countries all around the world.

This Aug. 11, 2009 photo shows laborers working at Huaxi No. 2 steel and iron construction material company in Huaxi, Jiangsu Province, China

© AP Photo

Huaxi owed its prosperity to the efforts of Wu Renbao, former secretary of the village Communist Party Committee who managed to persuade Beijing to turn Huaxi into a symbol of socialist triumph.

This Aug. 11, 2009 photo shows a statue of Mao Zedong in front of an illuminated pagoda-shape building in Huaxi, Jiangsu Province, China

© AP Photo / Eugene Hoshiko

All Huaxi villagers are shareholders of a multi-sector industry company that is listed on the stock exchange, and are paid one-fifth of the company's annual profits. Each villager owns at least $143,000 deposited on a personal bank account.

A typical nieghborhood street is pictured in Huaxi Village 10 December 2004 in Jiangyin County, Jiangsu Province

© AFP 2023

Only the original Huaxi villagers and their descendants – about 2,000 people in total — afforded privileges like ownership of the company stock and free healthcare; migrant workers and residents of the neighboring villages that were absorbed into Huaxi are paid better wages than elsewhere in the country but do not have access to those perks.

Публикация от Marine (@olivewithasmile) Июл 22 2016 в 8:13 PDT

 

The World Park, built in Huaxi Village to promote tourism, features replicas of various iconic landmarks from across the globe, like Sydney Opera House, the Parisian Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile and even a section of the Great Wall of China.