Tourists looking to get back to basics stay with locals

Having a good rest at a village house is a must-have experience after a whole day's tour in picturesque Yangshuo.

With an increase in tourists from home and abroad, village-houses-turned-hotels mushroomed in Yangshuo, said Wei Shourong, director of the county's tourism bureau.

From few village hotels about three decades ago, the county now boasts more than 600 such hotels scattered throughout the villages.

They can together accommodate 10,000 people each day, Wei said. Some of them also developed their own special features to meet the various demands of so many tourists.

At present, more than 100,000 people, mostly from villages, are engaged in the tourism industry in Yangshuo, making rural tourism a major employment source, Wei said.

Zhou Xin, owner of XY YunHouse, a village-house-turned-hotel in Yangcun village of the county, said there is huge potential in village tours.

"When I travel in European countries, especially in the countryside, I often see people live in houses more than 200 years old," she said.

"The houses maintain their primitive state yet still are comfortable. "Once back in China, Zhou started her own search for a place close to nature but also suitable to live.

Born in Guilin, which administrates Yangshuo, Zhou said she found no place better than Yangshuo.

YunHouse was built on the basis of seven typical Guilin houses and maintained their original style.

"Many foreign guests expressed their interest in seeing something that cannot be found in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai," Zhou said. "They would like to see something unique to China."

Most of things used in YunHouse are made from cotton and linen for the sake of environmental protection.

All the employees are local people who have never been to big cities. "They are also part of the primitive environment," Zhou said.

With improved living standards, more and more people will long for a laid-back rural life, Zhou said.

"We don't have TVs, but we have films shown in the openair. We don't have computers, but we have libraries. We don't have gyms, but we have natural greenways along the fields," she said. "Thus, village tours will be a growing trend."

Glen Cook, general manager of Banyan Tree, another hotel located in rural areas in Yangshuo, said close contact with nature is the largest appeal for such hotels.

The site for the hotel was chosen because of its idyllic environment surrounded by mountains and a river, Cook said. "In the summer solstice, the sun sets between the mountains in front of the main entrance with the river flowing to us from the southwest.

"The quiet peaceful setting is great for relaxing."

(China Daily 10/18/2016 page24)