This photo taken on July 25, 2022 shows a B&B guesthouse built in Nanyu Village, Laishui County of north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua)
SHIJIAZHUANG, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Duan Jinghe was renovating his courtyard with some workers in Nanyu Village, Laishui County in north China's Hebei Province.
Duan, 32, runs two guesthouses with a total of nine rooms, in Nanyu Village in the Taihang Mountains, which is just located at the border of Hebei and Beijing.
"Although it is the low season for tourism here now, we can take advantage of the time to improve the environment of my guesthouse," Duan said.
Duan used to work in other places after graduating from university, and then as he saw the development of tourism in the village, he decided to return home to start his own business. In 2019, Duan transformed his idle old house into a B&B guesthouse. The rooms with fashion design and enthusiastic service brought him a steady stream of customers.
"In the past two years, although we were affected by the epidemic, the profit in the peak season is really good. In the summer of 2022, we earned more than 300,000 yuan (about 43,075 U.S. dollars)," he said.
Nanyu Village was once a poverty-stricken village in the mountains.
In 2012, the per capita income here was less than 2,000 yuan, and 52 out of the 220 households in the village were registered as poverty-stricken households.
"We are located in a deep mountainous area," said Duan Chunting, party chief of Nanyu Village. "In the past, the transportation here was inconvenient. There was little farmland in our village, and people were not rich. Most of the young people in the village chose to go out to work."
In 2014, thanks to the opening of a major highway, Nanyu Village, located near the exit of the highway, had a new opportunity. With the traffic problem solved, the geographical advantage of Nanyu village helps drive the development of tourism.
"Our village borders the Fangshan District of Beijing, and there are some beautiful and famous scenic spots nearby. The mountains, the water, and the air here are good, which is suitable for developing tourism," Duan Chunting said.
Duan Jinghe (2nd L) renovates his courtyard in Nanyu Village, Laishui County in north China's Hebei Province, Dec. 24, 2022. (Xinhua)
In recent years, Nanyu Village has also taken measures to develop rural tourism, such as building roads and bridges, and turning old farmhouses into boutique homestays, so that villagers can earn money just in the village and lead a better life now, Duan Chunting added.
In April 2016, Nanyu Village set up a cooperative, which carried out the characteristic transformation of these old houses in the village, and built a boutique B&B brand. At the same time, the traditional rural diet and farming culture are integrated into the local tour, so that people from the city can experience the customs of the village.
"Our village cooperative brings in professional companies to operate B&Bs as a whole, and the operating income is shared by the cooperative and operators," said Duan Chunting. "Fifty percent of the cooperative's share will be dividends for members, and the other 50 percent will be used as follow-up development funds. Each villager in our village only invests 1 yuan, and all villagers share the profits."
With its unique natural scenery and exquisite B&Bs, Nanyu Village has become popular on the internet, attracting many tourists from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
At the end of 2018, Nanyu Village was lifted out of poverty. Nanyu Village boutique B&Bs have also achieved good economic benefits. By 2021, the cumulative income reached more than 11.6 million yuan, among which more than 1.8 million yuan has been used for villagers' dividends. In recent years, Nanyu Village has been awarded the national rural governance model village and provincial beautiful village, among other honors.
Nanyu Village now has more than 70 sets of medium- and high-end B&Bs with more than 400 rooms, and more than 30,000 tourists choose to stay there every year.
At present, the county has more than 500 B&Bs, mostly family-run, said Li Weimin, director of Laishui County's culture, radio, television, and tourism bureau. In 2021, the B&B incomes of Laishui County reached more than 41 million yuan, creating jobs for more than 1,300 people, and creating social benefits of more than 100 million yuan. ■
