A desolate village evolves into tourism hot spot

Zhou Ailin has become accustomed to ecstatic applause from a large audience whenever she finishes her folk singing at Kongfang village, Yingshan county, Hubei province's Huanggang city.

Her life took a turn for the better after she found a job at the Shenfeng resort.

Zhou's family used to rely on government subsidies.

Her husband was injured and unable to work due to a back injury. Zhou was the only pillar her family could fall back on for support.

She received training at the resort and unleashed her singing potential.

"It feels great to create wealth on my own strength rather than living on charity," Zhou says.

She is also working at an agritainment park at the resort, and her monthly salary has reached 10,000 yuan ($1,543) now.

Her in-laws have also been able to work at a ranch and help to bring in 36,000 yuan annually.

Moreover, Zhou's family has helped to raise pigs and chickens, which adds another 50,000 yuan to her family income.

Zhou is one of over 1,000 locals who have benefited from the founding of Shenfeng resort by Wen Binjun in 2013.

Wen couldn't help but think of his childhood in Kongfang village even though he had a successful career in big cities.

"My mother couldn't afford to go to the hospital when I was little," he says, adding that he swore to make her happy when he grew up.

When Wen made good his promise, he began to feel his obligation toward the land that had nursed him.

Before the resort was built, local young villagers had almost all left home to find a way to make a living.

After finishing planning for the Shenfeng resort, Wen invited local young villagers back and offered them equal pay as their city jobs.

Many of them answered Wen's call, since they could better take care of things at home while working in the village.

In 2015, Yingshan county stepped up efforts in infrastructure development, which helped accelerate the development of the resort.

Wen built vegetable, chicken and pig farms, as well as orchards in 36 villages in the neighborhood to support the resort's operations.

He insisted on old-fashioned farming methods which ensured healthy and sustainable food.

"Most visitors would buy some of our vegetables to take home, especially after they tour our farms," says Chen Lan, an employee with Shenfeng resort.

The resort managed to draw in 400,000 tourist visits in 2017, with an income of 340 million yuan.

Travelers are mostly come from the provincial capital Wuhan and the neighboring provinces of Anhui and Jiangxi.

Visitors can enjoy a hot spring, local snacks, folk gala performances and bonfire parties at the resort.

Tea picking, bamboo raft, green farm produce shopping and a tour to Dabie Mountain are all arranged to enhance traveler experience.

The resort has helped to bring job opportunities for more than 2,000 rural households, most of whom can get more than 20,000 yuan via vegetable and fruit plantation, according to Chen.

"Many of us have bought houses and cars," Chen says.

Shenfeng is part of the tourism highlights in Yingshan county, which has been named a national model for wholistic tourism by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in December 2020.

The county has tapped into its intact natural resources featuring rich forests and ideal mountain and water landscapes to develop tourism.

It has built river belts in the west and east, a water town in the south, and an ecological leisure cluster in the north.

The local authority has focused on integrating tourism with rural culture and folk customs, according to Tian Hongguang, head of the Yingshan county.

Tourism has also helped to improve rural living conditions and protect local ecology. Facilities offering dining, accommodation, shopping and entertainment have sprung up.

The county got out of poverty in April 2019.

To date, the tourism industry has contributed about 30 percent of employment opportunities in Yingshan and accounted for 45 percent of local GDP, Tian says.