Rural B&B businesses receive a boost in the first half of year

Bed-and-breakfast businesses boomed in the Chinese countryside in the first half of this year, according to a recent report.

The report released by homestay booking service provider Tujia shows that more than 630,000 properties had been registered with the platform for rural B&B businesses by June 30, an increase of 16 percent year-on-year from 2020.

The properties accommodated more than 3.1 million visitors from January to June, adding a combined 900 million yuan ($139.3 million) to their owners' revenue.

Considering such busy tourism seasons as the school summer break, Mid-Autumn Festival and the weeklong National Day holiday, the amount is estimated to surpass 2 billion yuan by the end of this year, approximately 1.2 times that of 2020, the report said.

Behind the flourishing businesses is a rural revitalization campaign that is sweeping across the country. B&B businesses are considered a key means of improving villagers' livelihoods and boosting the rural economy.

Traditionally, idyllic pastoral scenes have proved popular among Chinese people, as it is believed the countryside provides a retreat to a peaceful and more relaxed world.

Tao Hua Yuan, or The Peach Blossom Spring, a classical essay written by Tao Yuanming during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), depicts a carefree country life experience and is remembered fondly by almost all Chinese people. When they grow up, the pursuit of harmony with nature and the longing for an adventure in an idyllic village has great resonance with them.

The rising number of car owners has facilitated an escape from the hustle and bustle of urban life, promoting short-haul travel to villages on the outskirts of cities.

A woman surnamed Xie living in Hubei province likes to spend weekends with her family at a rural homestay.

"We all like being close to nature," she told Jimu News, a news portal run by Hubei Daily. "After one or two hours' drive to a nearby village, we'll walk around and have a dinner made from fresh farm produce.

"It is quiet, not that crowded like a popular tourist destination and all this makes us feel secure and relaxed."

Urbanites are a major source for rural tourism. The report shows Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi'an are among the cities that saw the most rural tours in the country from January to June.

Top rural homestay destinations in terms of revenue during the period included Anji, Chun'an and Deqing counties in Zhejiang province; Changli county in Hebei province; Fenghuang county in Hunan province; and Huidong county in Guangdong province.

More than 60 percent of the tourists booking rural homestays are young people in their 20s and 30s, according to the report.

The report also found that rural homestays are becoming increasingly popular among tourists for countryside landscape, local culture and customs, and slow-paced life experiences.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and so more Red tourism routes to revolutionary heritage sites have been launched across the country, many of them in rural areas. They have promoted the growth of rural tourism and rural B&B businesses.

Popular Red tourism destinations include Zunyi in Guizhou province, where a crucial meeting was held during the Long March in 1935, becoming a turnaround in the CPC's history; Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, where the first CPC National Congress was held on a red boat on Nanhu Lake; and Zaozhuang in Shandong province where the Chinese army defeated more than 20,000 enemy soldiers in the monthlong Taierzhuang battle during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

Rural B&B businesses around Red tourism sites have reported a strong performance, including those near Langya Mountain in Baoding, Hebei province; Xibaipo in Shijiazhuang, Hebei; and Yimeng Mountain in Shandong. Rural homestay bookings increased by more than 35 percent in the first half of this year, compared with the same period of 2020.