Villages profit from lucid waters, lush mountains

Home to lucid waters and lush mountain ranges, the Ancient Weir-Home of Painting (Guyan Huaxiang) scenic area in Lishui, a prefecture-level city in Zhejiang province, attracts some 1.9 million visitors a year.

In villages around the scenic area, where over 150 homestays employing 2,200 local residents thrive in business, the average annual income of villagers has exceeded 43,000 yuan ($5,890).

However, many years ago, the riverside area was swarming with wood-processing plants that brought in their wake severe environmental damage.

Yang Yaowei, 63, a carpenter who learned the craft from his father, relied on the nearby mountains for his income in the initial years after the country's opening-up process was unveiled.

Through wood cutting and processing, he became one of the first group of people to get rich after he started his own wood processing factory.

His peers soon followed suit, transporting various types of furniture from the area to regions across the country.

By 2015, amid the noise of roaring machines and airborne dust, the lush green mountains and clear waters of yore became just a memory for people in the village.

"The harsh situation forced us to make a choice — sticking to our old pollution-prone profession or developing tourism to enrich ourselves," Yang said, recalling that he decided to transform his factory in 2016.

His son Yang Xiangjun, 38, upgraded the plant into a wood product-themed homestay, earning some 20,000 yuan monthly, buoyed by the village's scenic beauty.

"The transformation brought us booming business and growing income, showcasing the idea that green mountains and clear waters are equal to mountains of gold and silver," he said.

Currently, the scenic spot has become a typical model in Zhejiang for practicing the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets".

Besides developing the three core villages at the center, the scenic spot also encouraged surrounding villages to develop their own unique features. Now, Shezhai Lishan village and the Red Yuxi village have also joined in the boom.

But the business euphoria also brought in new problems. As the heating and kitchens of homestays mainly relied on coal and gas in the past, pollution and safety hazards loomed large, posing a worry both for tourists as well as homestay owners.

Helping hand

Realizing this, the local power supply arm of State Grid reached out to help.

Hand in hand with the local government and the scenic spot administrative committee, State Grid Liandu District Electric Power Co — a unit of State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power — decided to set up standards for all-electric homestays and all-electric kitchens, offering subsidies for their construction.

The power supplier built 20 all-electric homestays initially, and also invested in building an electric-ship charging system, to provide charging services for electric ships for the local port and navigation bureau and the scenic spot administrative committee.

Zhuge Wei, the owner of Zhuge Shi's Homestay in Yantou village, said he benefited from the green transformation.

When he converted his old house into a homestay for tourists, the concerns were regarding coal and gas supplies as most of the buildings in the Ancient Weir-Home of Painting scenic area are wooden structures.

However, the electric energy substitution project initiated by State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power led to a redesign of the kitchen equipment with new electric cookware, which helped improve safety and made it more environmentally friendly.

Zhuge said more clients came to his homestay after the renovation, while the costs were recovered within a year.

"The electricity efficiency is good, and now there is no need for my customers to complain anymore," he said.