Zhongcheng Korean Ethnic Ecovillage, this is Yanbian, yet not quite like Yanbian

With time to spare, I embarked on a spontaneous trip, driving to the western gateway of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture--Dunhua City, and visited a newly built Korean folk village--Zhongcheng Village. Upon arriving at Zhongcheng, I was truly astonished. The village houses, with their blue tiles, white walls, and upturned eaves, showcased Korean architectural features to the utmost, deeply integrating Korean culture. After immersing myself, I felt that this place didn't quite resemble Yanbian, mainly due to the local prices. As is well-known, in our Northeast, there are two places where transactions are not settled in the local currency unit: one is Yanbian, the other is Dalian. But Dunhua overturned my understanding. In Zhongcheng Village, I mainly experienced the accommodation and travel photography. We stayed at the Zhongcheng Folk Hotel, and upon entering the room, I was shocked. Was this a standard room, or an apartment? The room was about 30 square meters, and pulling back the curtains revealed the night view outside. The room combined traditional Korean folk customs with modern technology. The most important thing was that during the May Day Golden Week, when people crowded everywhere and homestays in Yanji were inflated to thousands of yuan, the folk hotel here only cost 498, and the environment was far superior to any star-rated hotel we had stayed in before. After a brief rest, we chose a travel photography studio next to the hotel to experience Korean traditional clothing photography. The owner, knowing we had come from afar, generously gifted us a set of hairpins that are very popular in China recently. Can you imagine? In the domestic travel photography market, where low prices are used to lure customers and high prices to rip them off, here it was not only a fixed price but also an extra set was given. The price of 698 for travel photography was really a bargain. The makeup was particularly meticulous, and the photographer was exceptionally good at guiding. (Just look at the finished photos), suddenly a phrase popped into my head: 'Virtuous Dunhua'. Perhaps, every person in this small city is practicing virtue in their life. This experience left me with an indescribable touch of emotion and an unspeakable bitterness. After Yanji became explosively popular, it actually harmed Dunhua, a city that is a transportation hub. Homogenized tourist products and a city brand with low recognition have led most people to think that Yanji is Yanbian, and Yanbian is only Yanji. The city of Virtuous Dunhua has a very small presence. But here, there is indeed a cost-performance ratio that Yanji cannot match. I sincerely hope that this city will get better and better. Dunhua·Yanbian Zhongcheng Korean Ethnic Ecovillage