Nestled in nature

Rustic homes in Mogan Mountain of Huzhou, Zhejiang province, offer visitors respite from the trappings of modernity. [Photo/China Daily]

Bucolic Huzhou area tempts urbanites with outdoor offerings

Driving up the road to Mogan Mountain south of Huzhou in Zhejiang province, you can easily spot eight red-brick houses that stand out from hundreds of others on the hillside. The sign marking the graveled path that leads to these farmhouses that make up the 395 Village displays colorful images of Chinese workers in the early revolutionary style.

The path is neatly maintained and free of plastic bottles or other travelers' trash that mar the many resorts and retreats in Zhejiang, one of the most highly industrialized provinces in China.

The front yard of the village is also free of the statues and faux rock formations that adorn many public areas throughout the country. The only prominent structure in the small open area is a washbasin that was originally a feed trough for livestock.

Maintaining the rustic feel of the area was the primary objective of Grant Horsfield when he began in 2007 to work on remodeling these farmhouses into bungalows, equipped with modern toilets and kitchens.

"I fell in love with the area on my first visit that year and made up my mind to build a holiday resort," says the former management consultant from South Africa.

Together with his wife, Horsfield spent $1 million (727,000 euros), including his own savings and money raised from friends and relatives, to lease eight of the 18 original farmhouses in the village, which got its name from the fact that at one time it was home to only three families of nine people. Now it is a resort complex, renamed Naked Retreat, that can accommodate 50 guests at any one time.

Business has been brisk, Horsfield says. In the peak seasons, usually during the various long vacation breaks such as Labor Day, National Day and Spring Festival, bookings of one to two months in advance are needed.

More than 10,000 travelers have stayed at the resort since its opening in late 2007. The occupation rate increased to about 50 percent in 2010 with a gross operating profit of more than 30 percent, which is high compared to other resorts located at even the most popular tourist sights in China.

Nearly 90 percent of the guests have been expatriates from neighboring Shanghai during the first two years. But its popularity has been growing among young Chinese tourists.

The amenities of Naked Retreat can seem bare. Operators consider air conditioning harmful to the environment and it is therefore banned. Instead, all bungalows are furnished with ceiling fans to keep guests cool in the summer. The furniture is largely made of recycled materials and all the household fabrics are of cotton.

"We want to make nature accessible to urbanites from metropolises like Shanghai. It will help them get relaxed, refreshed and hopefully, take up an eco-friendly lifestyle," Horsfield says.

But enjoying the privilege of spending time in this nature resort does not come cheap. The average charge ranges from 500 yuan to 750 yuan per person per day, depending on seasons, with a country style breakfast included. Lunch and dinner can be ordered from the resident ayis, who are recruited from the people living in neighboring villages and prepare both western and local nong jia cai (local style Chinese food).

Laced with soothing streams and blanketed in evergreen trees and bamboo, Mogan Mountain used to be one of the favorite summer resorts for royal guests and rich people, who were mostly foreigners, in Shanghai in the early 20th century to while away the summer heat and humidity. Sprawling villas, varying in style from medieval castles to countryside houses and equipped with facilities like tennis courts, dancing floors and even swimming pools, were built by these wealthy Westerners to create a paradise in the East for themselves.

But with the awakening of the lucrative Chinese tourism market in the past decade, Mogan Mountain is making a comeback, thanks to its tranquil scenery, offers of adventurous hikes and most important of all, proximity to big cities like Shanghai and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.

During the first nine months in 2010, 1.38 million people visited Mogan Mountain, an increase of 31.3 percent over the previous year, and generated 67 million yuan of revenue, up 34.2 percent from 2009, according to the figures provided by the tourism department of Deqing county, where Mogan Mountain is located.

"Basically, Mogan Mountain has become an all-year-round quintessential retreat for urbanites," says Ji Huibin, vice-director of the communication department of Deqing county.

"Some city people flock to Mogan Mountain in the winter months simply to see the snow," he says.

Such enthusiasm has lured thousands of local farmers - who have emptied their life savings to have their houses refurbished and modernized only to find they are living all by themselves - to thrive in the growing business of tourism industry, or "agritainment" industry, as they themselves put it.

What they have been doing is simple and low budget: Sparing a few bedrooms left by their offspring who have moved to bigger cities to make more money, and sharing some of their home-cooked meals made from their plants and fowl as well as charging each guest 100 yuan or so a night for accommodation. The countryside meals are charged separately.

The county government estimates that there have been nearly 1,500 beds provided by 108 agritainment-running families at Mogan Mountain. More than 1,200 people, mostly local farmers, are working in the business, accounting for 10 percent of the population of the mountainous area that covers less than 100 square kilometers.

The numbers do not include part-time agritainment families who have a regular job in town but are more than willing to open their doors and make some pocket money when their neighbors are overloaded with visitors during holidays.

"It's been a very competitive market so far, since everyone has seen the huge profit margin and wants to gain some benefit. Some families have bought a car to provide pick-up services, while others are offering performances to find their niche in the market," Ji says.

But for Horsfield and his Naked Retreats seems to have already found one.

Horsfield declines to disclose more concrete financial information but he says that the business has been "very satisfactory" and the profit is increasing every year, "which has allowed us to keep growing rapidly".

"Operational cost is rather low here, compared with bigger chain hotels," says Richard Johnston, the general manager of the resort who has been managing various types of hotels around the world for 24 years.

"We don't have big expenses like lifting, central air conditioning, or room services around the clock. We want to make it into a big family and eco-friendly," Johnston says.

But Horsfield and his wife are looking beyond managing a family resort. They plan to open another three resorts in some of the best locations in China to expand their green business.

The newest one, Naked Stable, which is a 20-minute car ride from the village, will be a more high-end complex with facilities like horse-riding and conference rooms. It cost 200 million yuan to build and decorate, and is expected to be open for business in October this year. The other two are expected to be located in Shangri-La in Yunnan province and Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang.