Homing in on the great outdoors
As the climate heats up, tourists search for the ultimate holiday or retirement locations. Establishing sites for 'mobile' accommodation is a priority in many areas, Wu Yanbo and Hu Dongmei report in Guyuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
Xinhe village is located 8 kilometers from Longde county, with an average elevation of 2,650 meters, with the Yuejiaxia Forest Park and a small river flowing from east to west across the village.
Zhao Xiaolong, the Xinhe village Party secretary responsible for the RV campsite, says that since 2015, the village has aimed to develop characteristic rural tourism, improving the living environment by constructing sewage treatment systems, parking lots, and more.
Establishing a national-level intangible cultural heritage base for "Gaotai Ma Shehuo" (performing on stilts and horses with ancient Chinese cosplay) and developing projects such as eco-tourism, farmhouse stays and water parks, the village was selected in the first batch of national key rural tourism villages in 2019. In 2023, the Yuejiaxia Forest Health Base was designated as a national pilot forest health construction site.
"In the past, we aimed to attract more tourists during traditional holidays like Spring Festival through traditional shehuo performances, but the efforts were limited. In August 2019, experienced RV traveler Zha Haiyong came to our village and noticed the natural environment and well-leveled parking lots but few tourists," Zhao says.
Zha suggested and guided the village to establish the RV campsite to attract more self-driving and RV tourists. Currently, the village's RV campsite covers nearly 40,000 square meters with the capacity to serve over 300 RVs at the same time.
