The aim of this study is to explore the demand for rural mural design in China from the perspective of rural revitalization and provide suggestions for rural beautification. The research adopts a combination of qualitative semi-structured interviews and quantitative Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to achieve a more objective investigation. Firstly, through interviews, suggestions and demands for improving rural murals were investigated and key requirements were summarized. Subsequently, AHP was employed to assign weights and rank the identified key requirements. The results show that the demands for improving rural murals mainly focus on three categories: theme and content, design and creativity, and space and environment. Furthermore, using the AHP method, concepts such as regional characteristics, natural environment, living scenes, thematic creativity, cultural inheritance, and craftsmanship were found to be ranked higher in demand. Based on these findings, this study also proposes relevant improvement suggestions and design approaches. The study emphasizes the exploration and inheritance of rural culture and human landscapes by designers, broadening their design thinking, which contributes to the development of rural mural art and provides cultural support and motivation for rural revitalization. These findings are expected to provide substantial guidance for the practice of rural mural design and offer valuable references and insights for academia and practitioners.