HK nurse starts anew with homestay in artsy village

Ngai Siu-hung, a former nurse working and living in Hong Kong, has recently experienced a 360-degree change in her life after moving to a village in East China's Fujian province.

This month, she invested 350,000 yuan ($50,085) in renting an apartment for more than 10 years to run a homestay hotel in Longtan village in Fujian's Pingnan county, just a two-hour drive from the province's capital city.

The decision was made when she came here the second time.

She visited Longtan village for the first time last year to see a music festival after a friend told her that there was a place where "everybody can be an artist".

"You know, it's unbelievable. In our education, everyone is told that you must be learned and practice and work hard. And then, maybe you can become an artist," she said.

However, the first time she came she felt a very strong feeling that she belonged to the place.

"Just somewhere inside, a voice told me: this is very good for you -- it's the place for you," she said.

Ngai later found out that being an artist may have been a dream she wasn't even aware of because she used to be so busy with her work every day. She usually worked over twelve hours a day, even though her working time should be eight hours.

"I was very destroyed, and very, very tired," she said.

Now with the small hotel and a boyfriend she met here, Ngai believes that she can earn a very good life in the future.

"This is really not about the money or what you pay. This place can give me health, give me (a chance to) enjoy my life, and it's also what I want to do," she said, adding that the villagers are very nice and treat her like a local resident.

The Hong Kong resident also suggested young people in Hong Kong should visit the Chinese mainland more, because people here are different than what they might believe.

"They must come to see what it actually is," she said.