The recent Spring Festival witnessed the return of large crowds of people in Songyang county – administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – especially in rural villages, where the flow of visitors dramatically increased.

Staying in rural homestays and experiencing a unique taste of the Chinese New Year has become a top choice for many urbanites.

Songyang is a county that has been developed as an experimental area for the protection and utilization of ancient villages in China. In 2016, the county-wide "save old residences" project was launched to revive its ancient villages through micro-renovation and meticulous upgrading of old houses.

The old residences in Yangjiatang village blend harmoniously with the lush environment. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

One of these villages, Yangjiatang nestles in a mountainous valley just 8 kilometers from the county seat. The restored old houses with plain earthen walls shine in the sunlight and blend harmoniously with the lush countryside.

These ancient villages are Songyang's pride and joy. In the summer of 2018, a photo of a bookstore hanging onto the edge of a cliff in Chenjiapu village went viral on social media, sparking a wave of rural tourism development.

High-quality projects such as the Yunxi MO+ shared vacation space and the Stray Birds boutique homestay were successively launched there, igniting a new trend in rural living.

Chenjiapu village is certainly a sight to be seen, perching on a hillside. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

Elsewhere, in Caizhai village in Dadongba town, visitors flock to the tofu workshop during holidays. "In 2022, more than 30,000 study tour visitors visited our workshop and the local tourism economy increased by over 3.5 million yuan ($511,287)," said Xiang Jun, director of the tofu workshop.

Inspired by this success, Dadongba town has promoted a "tourism+ workshop+ old house" model to boost its common prosperity. The construction of various homestay complexes is being carried out, using tourism linked to the production workshops for wine, camellia oil and honey as the driving force.

A bird's eye view of a homestay complex in Caizhai village. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

According to officials, Songyang is set to launch a "thousand old houses for living and touring" program – seeking out new residents from around the world and attracting urbanites with a rural nostalgia to live in Songyang. The rent for a house will range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of yuan per year.