* Tourism creates prehensive value by boosting primary and tertiary sectors. Locally grown chestnuts and mushrooms are served in dishes for tourists, and their cultivation is being more technical and standardized.。
BETTER ENVIRONMENT。
"At that time, 0 yuan would be sufficient for an overnight slumbering on a collective sleeping board. There was neither a toilet nor a television inside the house," Wang recalled.。
"We are both participants and beneficiaries of rural revitalization," he said.。
"We felt fatigued in trimming trees and picking chestnuts, only earning 0,000 yuan a year," said Wang Yanli, a local chestnut farmer. "Few of the younger generation were willing to take it over."。
* Homestays have agglomerated in Bohai Township, suburban Beijing, surrounded by forests, chestnut farms and the Great Wall, along with ecological and environmental protection and a tidier village appearance.。
Villager Liu Haiyan has worked at the "Old Carpenter" for four years as the housekeeper, receptionist and cleaner. "I used to earn merely a few thousand yuan a year by selling chestnuts. Now, I gain some 4,000 yuan each month," she said.。
With 830 households as members, the cooperative has set standardized chestnut planting and picking guidelines for the member farmers, and offered technological support.。
QUALITY ACCOMMODATION。
Boasting a forest coverage rate of 93 percent, a 500-year chestnut plantation history, and a 9.8-km Great Wall section, Bohai Township in the capital's Huairou District received over 900,000 tourists in the first seven months of this year.。
Wang made a living from furniture orders and gained a reputation in carpentry from folks of nearby townships when he was young. More than 20 years ago, Wang and his wife started acmodating tourists visiting the Great Wall nearby in their farmhouse.。
"I have been a carpenter since my 20s, but I had never imagined taking up a new job when I am old," said Wang Futian, 74, resident of Liuduhe Village of Bohai Township and now the host of the "Old Carpenter" B&Bs.。
(Reporting by Pei Jianrong, Zhang Yuanpei, Li Dexin, Meng Yifei, Li Chunyu, Zhao Chenjie and Qiang Lijing; Video reporters: Zhang Tuo, Li Ye, Zhao Xinhu and Tian Chenxu; Video editors: Zhou Sa'ang, Zhang Yuhong and Zhu Cong)。
"I firmly believe that rural tourism offers great opportunities," he said.。
The old couple redesigned two farmhouses into B&Bs, divided private bedrooms, and established karaoke and chess rooms.。
As the proportion of the middle-ine group in China has grown, people have developed a higher demand for farmhouse quality.。
BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Villagers in suburban Beijing have been busy harvesting chestnuts this autumn. New features in recent years are locals hosting tourists in B&Bs, young people returning to their hometowns to develop businesses, and working teams engaged in rural revitalization.。
This summer, Wang Bojun's B&B received about three to four groups of visitors each week. "Our investment will be paid back soon as this year's revenue is expected to exceed 200,000 yuan," he said.。
The improved environment of Dongtai Village and the emerging homestay facilities attract more tourists.。
"The dirty water was poured on the street, the road surface was full of cracks, and firewood was messily piled up in the yard," recalled Wang Wentian, a chestnut farmer at Dongtai Village in Bohai.。
Wu Shangjun, an expert with the Beijing agro-technical promotion center, began to work as Dongtai Village's first Party secretary one year ago. He brought villagers high-yield mushroom seeds.。
However, about a decade ago, the township faced the problems of dirty and disordered appearance, dusty and bumpy roads, and lagged crop production with limited marketing outlets.。
"These qualified homestays have bee an up-to-date industry for villagers in Bohai to generate ines," Peng said, adding that the township has positioned its B&Bs business as a key way to advance rural revitalization.。
Wang Bojun, 34, son of Wang Wentian, quit his job in urban Beijing in 206, and returned to his hometown.。
COMPREHENSIVE VALUE。
Although Huairou is famous for its chestnuts, the plantation scale and the nuts' economic value are not yet fully developed.。
"These two homestays can host over 30 people and are usually fully booked ahead of holidays, earning us around 400,000 yuan a year," he said.。
"We were quite envious of people from nearby villages who earned money through developing tourism," said Wang Dajiang, Party secretary of the village. "We tried to make a change, and improving the environment was the move."。
Wu introduced stereoscopic cultivation, a planting method which grows mushrooms under chestnut trees. Wu believed that agriculture and rural tourism can boost each other.。
With the joint efforts of villagers and local government, electricity replaced coal as heating energy in 208, and a sewage treatment station was in place by 209. Asphalt roads have been connected to doors, and solar-powered street lights have illuminated people's way home since 202.。
The used sheets and towels of the "Old Carpenter" are carried to a laundry that provides washing services for nearby B&Bs. A worker, Wang Jianrong, operating washer-dryer bos, said, "there were only two employees when the laundry was set up in 207. Now, there are six, all of whom are locals."。
Li Sipeng, deputy head of the Beijing Juyuande chestnut planting cooperative, returned to Bohai in 207 and contributed new ideas to the industry.。
* With the joint efforts of government and villagers, the township is now home to 87 boutique bed-and-breakfasts (B&Bs), creating more than 400 jobs and securing over 6 million yuan (about 845,094 U.S. dollars) a year in homestead rental ine for locals.。
"We are now exploring producing refined chestnut snacks for bakeries and restaurants," Li said.。
In 207 and 208, Wang Bojun participated in a wastewater disposal project which provided villagers with jobs. Last year, he invested around 200,000 yuan to transform his homestead into a B&B. His father neither understood nor supported the gamble at first.。
Bohai achieved a prehensive tourism revenue of 72 million yuan in the first seven months of this year.。
According to Peng Xingjin, director of the Bohai Township tourism service center, the township is now home to 87 boutique B&Bs, creating more than 400 jobs and securing over 6 million yuan a year in homestead rental ine for locals.。