Spatially Illustrating Leisure Agriculture: Empirical Evidence from Picking Orchards in China

In the context of rural revitalization strategies and humans’ increasing leisure pursuit, agriculture starts to act as a new engine economic growth industrial upgradation. Unraveling agri-leisure developmental regularity from spatial perspective facilitates urban-rural integration poverty alleviation in regions. Given lack spatially analyzing (e.g., sightseeing picking orchards) especially at macro-spatial scale national scale), this study aims explore spatiality its fundamental driving mechanisms based on geo-visual (spatially visualizing) analytical tools looking 20,778 orchards China. Results show that: (1) Picking are distributed form clusters with striking disparity multiple scales; (2) Five agglomerations found involving regions around Beijing Tianjin, Shandong hinterland, Henan core district Yangtze Delta, Pearl River Delta; (3) The revealed, pattern is be largely influenced by morphology, distance central cities, traffic conditions, level, tourism resources. This conducive optimizing planning eco-tourism towards sustainable agro-development.