Reviving old spaces for new tourism

At Zhugangding in Kuliang, the day unfolds in different shades of the same mountain view. In the morning, visitors can watch the sun rise over the sea from the site that sits atop Kuliang, a mountain retreat perched in the hills east of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province.

Clouds drift above the hills while the city stretches out below, with the river visible to the west. As the light softens, the mountain becomes an ideal place to watch the sunset. After dark, campers turn their eyes upward to the stars.

It is a full-day experience that would have been difficult to imagine on the same patch of land a few years ago.

Zhugangding, once overgrown and underused, has been transformed into a mountain-top camping and leisure site through ecological restoration. Launched in April 2025 and opened the following month, the project focused on restoring the landscape while making light improvements.

"It used to be that most visitors came for a day and then left. We wanted to turn that into overnight tourism," says Wang Ke, assistant general manager of Fuzhou Kuliang Protection and Development Co.

For more than a century, Kuliang, about 20 kilometers from downtown Fuzhou, has been associated with escaping the city's summer heat. It once housed Western diplomats, missionaries, doctors, and educators. They began coming up the mountain generations ago to seek cooler temperatures. The retreat also became a distinctive meeting point between local life and overseas communities, leaving behind historical buildings and stories of cultural exchange.

The cool climate remains a major draw. But today's visitors increasingly have more in mind.

Camping under the stars, watching a sunset, picking fruit, joining a nighttime performance, or browsing a cultural and creative market are becoming part of broader tourism offerings. The result is a mountain-top recreational space that Wang says can accommodate more than 2,000 people at a time.

Six stargazing cabins are currently available, with additional facilities planned. Visitors can bring their own camping equipment or use the site's facilities, and spend time taking in the surrounding landscape.

The location also fills a gap in Kuliang's tourism calendar, as fewer activities were available at the mountain retreat to keep people around.

A stage has now been installed at Zhugangding for performances, singing and other activities that are helping build a nighttime economy. Visitors can also buy coffee and other refreshments, enjoy barbecue, and take part in leisure activities.

A relatively low entrance fee is combined with vouchers that can be used toward some on-site consumption, creating an incentive for visitors to spend beyond the ticket itself, Wang explains.

A new generation of travelers

The changing tourism landscape is also evident in Kuliang's accommodation sector.

At Kuliang's Ginlan Jia Hotel, operator Ma Yu says younger travelers are becoming an increasingly essential part of the market. "In the past, summer retreats tended to attract relatively older guests," Ma says. "Young people now have more ideas about how they want to spend their time."

The hotel has moved beyond a conventional accommodation model, developing camping activities alongside a planned market featuring cultural and creative products, as well as pet-friendly offerings.

The market is intended to give visitors and interest groups a place to set up stalls, allowing them to become participants in the destination rather than simply consumers, Ma explains.

The hotel is also experimenting with food.

Traditional mountain destinations often rely on familiar rural dishes and local ingredients. At the hotel, Ma says chefs are experimenting with a fusion of Jiangsu-Zhejiang (province) and local Fuzhou cuisines, while reworking traditional Kuliang dishes and incorporating local mountain ingredients such as chicken, duck and seasonal vegetables into more contemporary dishes.

The aim is to retain a taste of the mountain while giving familiar ingredients a different presentation and flavor profile.

Ma says the hotel is responding by bringing camping, food, markets, pet-friendly activities and the surrounding scenery into a single experience, while keeping prices relatively accessible.

The property itself reflects Kuliang's broader effort to give old spaces new uses. It was developed from a former industrial and commercial training center that had fallen into disuse and reopened in July 2023 after renovation. The hotel now promotes mountain views and modern facilities, including an open-air pool.

Its average occupancy rate is around 75 to 80 percent, according to Ma, with demand particularly strong during summer.

From restaurant to rural style

For Guo Shangyou, the transformation of Kuliang is something he has watched from a much closer range.

Guo, operator of Lingli Muli homestay, had spent years running restaurants in Fuzhou when he first came to Kuliang in 2010. What attracted him was not initially a business opportunity, but a feeling of returning to the countryside he remembered.

He began with about 50 mu (3.3 hectares) of rented land and a small restaurant. Over the years, he gradually expanded the operation to more than 200 mu.

The business now combines accommodation, restaurants and agriculture.

His farm grows seasonal fruit, including waxberries, peaches, plums, persimmons, pears, mulberries and kiwifruit, as well as vegetables for the restaurant. Guests staying at the homestay can visit the farm for fruit-picking and family activities, while educational and study-tour programs can also be arranged.

The restaurant has grown alongside the farm. It can accommodate dozens of tables and, during peak periods, receive several hundred customers a day.

For Guo, the agricultural side of the business is not simply a tourism product.

"I just enjoy growing fruit, and still handle much of the pruning work," he says.

That personal connection to the land has shaped how he runs the business. The homestay, which has 28 rooms, offers a distinctively private experience, with individual courtyards surrounded by greenery. The restaurant and farm provide additional reasons for guests to explore beyond their rooms.

"I try to make it different from a conventional hotel by putting together accommodation, food and rural experiences," Guo says.

Kuliang has become noticeably busier since he first arrived.

Some businesses have upgraded their facilities, while new restaurants, homestays and other tourism offerings have appeared, he observes.

"Infrastructure has also improved considerably, but the basic appeal remains familiar," he says.

During hot summer weekends, locals still head up the mountain for a short escape from Fuzhou's heat. Guo says many of his customers are still middle-aged or young adults, and returning guests often introduce new visitors.

The mountaintop of Zhugangding has also begun working with nearby homestays, allowing visitors to combine camping and outdoor activities with an overnight stay, Wang Ke says.

"We want to bring these businesses and experiences together so that the tourism chain can become longer," he says.