Each autumn, villagers are seen peeling and drying gourds in Luzhuang village, Tangyi town, Dongchangfu district of Liaocheng city, East China's Shandong province. Along the streets, shops display and sell a wide variety of gourd handicrafts.

With abundant water resources and distinctive soil and climate, Dongchangfu has long been famous for its premium gourds. Today, gourd cultivation covers more than 30,000 mu (2,000 hectares) in the district, involving over 5,000 farming households. The gourds generate an annual output value of 2.6 billion yuan (about $365 million).

35-year-old Hao Hongle was the first college graduate from his village to return home and start a business. This year, he has planted nearly six mu of gourds, with sales expected to reach around 600,000 yuan.

Cultivation is only the beginning; the real value lies in processing.

"Our village has been known for gourd carving for centuries. In 2008, Dongchang gourd carving was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage," explained Mo Junling, who runs a gourd workshop in Luzhuang village.

A plain gourd might fetch only a few dozen yuan, but once transformed into an artwork, it can sell for thousands, even tens of thousands of yuan, said Mo.

"We've set up a talent service station and adopted a mentorship model to train people in gourd carving, cultivation, and related skills. Since the start of this year, we've held 50 training sessions, training over 500 people in planting, processing, and inheritance of cultural heritage, and helping more than 400 farmers grow into 'experts'," said Li He, deputy Party chief of Tangyi town.

At 26, Hao Xuekun is one of many young livestreamers driving the industry. A video he made about the Luzhuang gourd as a college student drew more than 200,000 views. After graduating, he returned home to launch a gourd e-commerce business, with each livestream generating tens of thousands of yuan in sales.

E-commerce has quickly become the primary sales channel in Tangyi town. The town's online gourd sales hit 1.2 billion yuan annually, while offline sales reached 600 million yuan. Support services such as packaging, logistics, photography, and design have sprung up, forming a complete industrial chain.