A farmer picks oranges in Huangyan district of Taizhou, Zhejiang province on Nov 17. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Huangyan district in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, known for its prosperous mandarin orange plantations, is exploring a new way of combining agriculture and tourism for economic growth.

On Nov 16-18, a national conference was held in the district with officials and experts from around China gathering to delve into the further development of the orange industry, from the perspectives of research, plantation, processing and sales.

Through field trips to plantations and processing factories for oranges, attendees offered their suggestions and advice for the development of Huangyan's orange industry, relying on which they thought the district could strongly develop tourism and realize rural vitalization.

Huangyan has a long history of orange plantation. Currently, there are more than 500 kinds of oranges grown on this land. The annual output of oranges in the district is around 65,000 metric tons, generating a value of 295 million yuan ($42.48 million) a year.

People visit an orange plantation in Huangyan district of Taizhou, Zhejiang province on Nov 17. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]