Make Yourself at Home

Cao Shuiying (left)and her daughter Kang Wenqin work in her B&B guesthouse in Mogan Mountain Town, Zhejiang Province

China’s booming b&b industry gives a new boost to rural development Sitting by the window in her bed

&breakfast (B&B) guesthouse, Meng Shuhui enjoys a glass of champagne, while admiring the landscape outside. The weather is just perfect at this time of the year, and the scenery that stretches before her is picturesque: white clouds, blue sky and rolling green hills. Time seems to stand still, except for a symphony of cicadas coming from the nearby bamboo forest. Located in a bamboo village at the foot of Mogan Mountain in Deqing County,two-hour drive from Hangzhou, the capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province, this guesthouse is the ideal refuge for Meng,who went there to take a rest after several intense days of stressful work in the city.

此前，中国家用电器研究院曾对FPA（斐雪派克）电机和普通电机作对比测试，在止逆阀半开，模拟公共烟道高风压状态，以用户常用的中、低速运行，测试后的数据显示，应用了FPA（斐雪派克）变频电机的海尔风幕8°油烟机，噪音相比普通油烟机低了5分贝左右，减轻用户头顶的噪音困扰。该项领先技术实力支撑了海尔厨电在市场上的主导地位。

And she is not the only one looking for a dose of “rural quietness.” In China, the B&B market, which took offin 2011, is still gaining momentum. According to a report published in November 2017 by China Tourism Association (CTA), the country had some 200,000 B&B guesthouses so far, a yearon-year increase of 300 percent. Meanwhile, the industry’s business turnover exceeded 12 billion yuan ($1.9 billion), and is expected to reach 30 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) by 2020.

“As livelihoods are improving, urban dwellers are becoming tired of urban life and yearn for a return to rural life,” explained Luo Deyin, a professor at Tsinghua University, on the booming B&B industry in China in recent years. Such guesthouses,or homestay inns, represent a new form of the hospitality and accommodation industry, where travelers can satisfy their need for discovering and exploring nature, local culture and rural lifestyles during their stay.B&Bs are also an important development opportunity for local villagers, especially considering that the Chinese countryside has a lot of vacant houses as many farmers go to work and live in more prosperous cities.

Rural awakening

In addition, the development of rural tourism has contributed to job creation. Many elderly people, most of whom were idle,have now found work in B&B establishments. A waiter, for example, can make a monthly salary of about 3,000 yuan ($480).Many rural dwellers who had migrated to bigger cities have now returned to their home villages to open their own inns or restaurants. According to statistics, 3,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs have been created as of the time of writing.

“B&B business will encourage more young people to return to their rural hometown, and will eventually revitalize the entire village. And this is how the B&B industry can lead to the awakening of an entire rural area,” said Xia.

我那天显得却很平静，几乎不假思索地便拒绝了。我拒绝的理由很简单，我是个病还没有痊愈的支气管炎病人，遇到这么大雾霾，不咳嗽气喘才是怪事呢。别说我这身板了，遇到这鬼天气，你就是没病又能好到哪去？

Xia Yuqing, Vice President of Kaistart, a crowdfunding platform specializing in the hospitality industry, was among the first to operate a B&B guesthouse on Mogan Mountain. “It was in 2000. At the time, many young people had moved to cities. There were only a few elderly people and old dilapidated buildings in the village,” he recalled.

b&b business will encourage more young people to return to their rural hometown, and will eventually revitalize the entire village. and this is how the b&b industry can lead to the awakening of an entire rural area.

But even empty of its young people,Deqing County still has abundant natural resources. Mogan Mountain is one of the four main summer resorts in China, and a four-star touristic attraction. This is one of the reasons why Xia wanted to invest there. Since then, B&B guesthouses in the county have grown like mushrooms after rain, with more than 400 inns and guesthouses opening their doors along the road leading to the mountain. This is nothing short of a resounding success, according to data provided by the county government. In 2016, more than 348,000 tourists,including 108,000 foreigners, stayed in local B&B guesthouses, generating 450 million yuan ($71.5 million) in revenue, up 28.6 percent year on year. The booming hospitality industry also promoted the efficient use of vacant houses in local villages. Today, the average annual rent for a room has risen to 70,000 yuan ($11,000) in Deqing, compared to 8,000 yuan ($1,200) in 2007.

要做到“两个过程”的合理性，即从数学知识发生发展过程的合理性、学生认知过程的合理性上加强思考，这是落实数学核心素养的关键点.前一个是数学的学科思想问题，后一个是学生的思维规律、认知特点问题.

A B&B guesthouse in Bamuqiu Village,Sandu Town of Zhejiang Province

By raising the income of local people, this new form of hospitality business has also encouraged local authorities to pay more attention to infrastructure linked to rural tourism, which has also bene fited villagers.

在压桩过程中，应保证桩体与地面处于垂直状态，然后借助千斤顶将其送入孔洞中，防止出现异常情况。在压桩时应不断地拧紧螺帽，保障锚具的坚固性。在整个工程实施过程中，可以采用硫磺胶泥对各个桩体进行衔接，使上下桩间能够完全粘合在一起，防止出现错位等情况，以此来加固建筑地基。

XIA YUQING Vice President of Kaistart

B&B guesthouses in Shitang Renjia of Jiangning District, Nanjing, a five-star tourist resort of Jiangsu Province

Standardization

In recent years, the development model of the Mogan Mountain region has spread throughout the country, attracting a massive amount of capitals as well as a large number of entrepreneurs. However, problems have also emerged. At a B&B conference held at the end of last year, CTA Director Duan Qiang said that the industry was facing significant challenges. In fact, not all rural areas are suitable for the development of the B&B economy, he noted. A large number of such guesthouses cannot make a pro fit,because of their isolation in location and lack of appropriate tourism resources. In addition, increasing numbers of consumers voice their dissatisfaction with the quality of services that have been given by some B&B guesthouses. As some analysts point out,while guesthouses can have their distinct features and management models, services should be standardized. More worrisome is that many B&B guesthouses do not have a hygiene, health and safety license, and operate outside the government’s monitoring system. Experts are, therefore, calling for the adoption of a national standard to better regulate the sector.

To this end, the China National Tourism Administration published the first national regulation to standardize the development of B&B guesthouses in August 2017, which came into effect on October 1 that year. Local administrations in places, such as Beijing and Shenzhen, have also issued their specific and detailed rules.

This new national regulation clearly de fines the B&B sector, puts in place evaluation principles, and specifies rules related to services, hygiene, health and safety. While highlighting the need for standardization,the new regulation also leaves room for personalized features. In fact, B&B guesthouses will now be divided into “gold” and“silver” labels. To obtain the “gold” label, a B&B guesthouse will have to meet a number of criteria related to the environment,facilities and services. ca