Reinventing a rural lifestyle

The increasing fame of the area is now also drawing visitors from abroad, who come mostly to savor the natural beauty, a tour guide says.

Tim Roger from the UK says: "Everything is beautiful here, and I like the scenery and the people."

The area received 1.4 million visitors in the first six months of this year, generating 810 million yuan in income.

In 2015, 3 million visitors came, contributing 1.7 billion yuan in income.

Tourism has undoubtedly greatly benefited Xianrendong.

As Fan says: "Earlier most of villagers relied on agriculture for a living, but now the farmhouse business is doing well and many young people have returned home to start businesses.

One of them is Fan Haixiang, 23, who has returned from Shanghai, and is currently managing her family inn.

The inn is filled almost on a daily basis, she says, adding that daily income can sometimes hit 10,000 yuan.

But she is not an exception and many like her are flocking back and devoting themselves to the local tourism business.

Earlier, girls from the village used to typically get married at 20, but now many are delaying getting hitched as they are very busy with work.

Looking at the future, Fan hopes that the villagers will return to a traditional way of life and visitors will come and envy their unique lifestyle.