As Pan Qingqing sips on a traditional Chinese tea, she glances out the window 
of her mountaintop guesthouse. The view is splendid with billowing clouds and 
valleys, and this is swiftly followed by laughter and loud chatter in the 
guesthouse where she is right in the middle of a jovial conversation with her 
guests who have made the trip to the Xiangjian village in the southern city of 
Hangzhou.  

The 44-year-old is one of many in Lin'an District to have built guesthouses to 
attract more visitors from home and abroad. For her, this is an opportunity to 
bring changes to her hometown. And her plans have been supported by the 
Hangzhou government. 

The key to this change has been to combine the local surroundings with the arts 
to create something fresh where you wouldn't expect it. And the guesthouses 
like Ms. Pan's brings the two together. 

Bigger than life-size installations of bamboo art now decorate the halls. When 
guests sit down for an afternoon tea and food, cups and cutlery sets made from 
local bamboo wood don the tables. Ms. Pan has been inviting artists to come and 
showcase their mastery. 

However, it wasn't all plain sailing at the start. After studying in France, 
she finally chose to come back to Lin'an. And even though she left all those 
years ago as a child, no one could deny how special the place was to her. 

But as things would have it, Ms. Pan's father, an experienced tourism operator, 
opposed the guesthouse plans. He sighted poor accessibility, small population, 
and an underdeveloped economy in the area as potential pitfalls. Nevertheless, 
she saw differently. She wasn't deterred. She believed in the changes her 
guesthouse would bring. 

And now, she is hosting a variety of events throughout the year. Recently, she 
launched a bamboo art exhibition. The bamboo artist was able to teach local 
villagers how to weave locally-sourced bamboo artworks. Just recently as 
October, at the tail-end of local rice harvest season, she gathered young 
agricultural entrepreneurs to taste the new rice and exchange their products to 
promote their hometowns.  

So, Xiangjian village is just the tip of the iceberg. It represents this 
innovative take on how to build tourism in rural Hangzhou. In this video, 
British host Josh went to visit the guesthouse and see the transformation of 
villages in Hangzhou through nature and modern arts. The video was filmed and 
produced by China Matters.  

Contact: Li Siwei
Tel: +8610-68996566 
E-mail: lisiwei5125@gmail.com

Video - https://youtu.be/c-e-VA6mT1k
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1156746/China_Matters_Logo.jpg 

SOURCE: China Matters