HANGZHOU, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Yao Sunfang now lives in her dream house.
The house was built by her father 15 years ago in their ancestral village, and renovated by the young woman, in her 20s.
Majoring in design at the China Academy of Art, a top-ranking art school, Yao used what she had learned in the university to make her dream a reality.
"I had worked in Hangzhou for more than four years, but I knew that wasn't the life I wanted," said Yao, who now lives in Gaofeng Village, Moganshan Township in the city of Huzhou, which is about an hour's drive from Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang.
She decided to come back home in 2018 and invested 5 million yuan (about 750,000 U.S. dollars) in the design, renovation and decoration of the old house.
"I wanted it to be my own work," said the hostess.
The homestay was opened to tourists in late 2019. She named it "Dream Castle," which also bears the same pronunciation of maze in Chinese.
"I hope that everyone can enjoy themselves in my dream castle," she said.
Yao uploaded videos on Douyin, a video-sharing platform, to boost the profile of her castle and soon accumulated 200,000 followers in half a year.
"Our homestay has Mogan Mountain as the backdrop and is near a horse ranch, so even a casual shot comes out beautiful," said Yao. "More homestays have emerged in recent years thanks to the improvement of the ecological environment."
Mogan Mountain, located at the center of the Yangtze River Delta, has always been an acclaimed destination throughout history.
"The year 2020 is very special. We were hit by the novel coronavirus epidemic soon after we officially opened and I had to cancel all the bookings for the Spring Festival," said Yao. "But thanks to the effective control measures, bookings have been full since May 1."
The booming tourism industry has nurtured more business opportunities.
After graduating from university in Britain, Shen Yaojia returned home and opened a photo studio with a friend. They offer photo-shooting tours, a burgeoning new career especially popular among the young generation.
"It's like an extended industry of the homestay," said Shen. "We accompany tourists and record moments from their travels, which are valuable memories when they leave."
Their workshop now receives an average of a dozen orders every month. "Our goal is to visit 100 homestays to expand our business," said Wang Huiying, Shen's partner.
Data show that in the past three years, the number of college students that started their own businesses in Huzhou has topped 22,000, of which returning young entrepreneurs are an important group. And the number of homestays in Huzhou had surpassed 2,700 by the beginning of 2020. Enditem
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