China Matters presents the story of Ms. Pan and her Mountaintop Guesthouse

Beijing (ots/PRNewswire) - As Pan Qingqing sips on a traditional Chinese tea,
she glances out the window of her mountaintop guesthouse. The view is splendid
with billowing clouds and valleys, and this is swiftly followed by laughter and
loud chatter in the guesthouse where she is right in the middle of a jovial
conversation with her guests who have made the trip to the Xiangjian village in
the southern city of Hangzhou.

The 44-year-old is one of many in Lin'an District to have built guesthouses to
attract more visitors from home and abroad. For her, this is an opportunity to
bring changes to her hometown. And her plans have been supported by the Hangzhou
government.

The key to this change has been to combine the local surroundings with the arts
to create something fresh where you wouldn't expect it. And the guesthouses like
Ms. Pan's brings the two together.

Bigger than life-size installations of bamboo art now decorate the halls. When
guests sit down for an afternoon tea and food, cups and cutlery sets made from
local bamboo wood don the tables. Ms. Pan has been inviting artists to come and
showcase their mastery.

However, it wasn't all plain sailing at the start. After studying in France, she
finally chose to come back to Lin'an. And even though she left all those years
ago as a child, no one could deny how special the place was to her.

But as things would have it, Ms. Pan's father, an experienced tourism operator,
opposed the guesthouse plans. He sighted poor accessibility, small population,
and an underdeveloped economy in the area as potential pitfalls. Nevertheless,
she saw differently. She wasn't deterred. She believed in the changes her
guesthouse would bring.

And now, she is hosting a variety of events throughout the year. Recently, she
launched a bamboo art exhibition. The bamboo artist was able to teach local
villagers how to weave locally-sourced bamboo artworks. Just recently as
October, at the tail-end of local rice harvest season, she gathered young
agricultural entrepreneurs to taste the new rice and exchange their products to
promote their hometowns.

So, Xiangjian village is just the tip of the iceberg. It represents this
innovative take on how to build tourism in rural Hangzhou. In this video,
British host Josh went to visit the guesthouse and see the transformation of
villages in Hangzhou through nature and modern arts. The video was filmed and
produced by China Matters.

Contact: Li Siwei
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Video - https://youtu.be/c-e-VA6mT1k

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1156746/China_Matters_Logo.jpg

Additional content: http://presseportal.de/pm/143504/4796950
OTS: China Matters