Homestay business triggers new vitality of rural economy

Tourists make Qingtuan, or green sticky rice balls, at a homestay in Moganshan Township of Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 7, 2019. In the past 15 years, guided by the conviction that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", a large number of villages in Zhejiang Province have undergone environmental transformations, attracting capital investments back to the countryside and prompting the development of homestay tourism. As a pioneer and explorer in the development of homestay business in China, Zhejiang is striving to be the model and destination of homestay tourism in China. With the implementation of rural revitalization strategy and development of integration of culture and tourism, more and more people choose to return or come to live in the countryside. The vigorous development of the homestay business in recent years in turn has triggered new vitality of rural economy, making itself a growth pole in the course of rural revitalization. According to relevant statistics, by the end of 2019, the total number of homestay facilities in Zhejiang Province had exceeded 18,000 with more than 150,000 employees. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)