Flower tourism, summer retreats take root in Yangchang village

Yangchang village in Wudang district, Guiyang, has been turning vacant rural homes into guesthouses and attracting visitors through online promotion and outreach campaigns in recent years. The town has also introduced a "villager card", allowing long-term visitors to enjoy free admission to the Huahua Scenic Town, further integrating flower tourism with summer retreats.

Visitors visit Huahua Scenic Town. [Photo/WeChat account of Wudang district]

In May this year, Liu Jing, a tourist from Zigong, Sichuan province, visited Yangchang village on an inspection trip. Drawn by the cool climate and vibrant flower fields, she booked a guesthouse on the same day. More than 2,000 visitors have come to Yangchang village for leisure stays this year, as flower fields bring in tourists and guesthouses encourage them to stay longer.

The transformation began in 2016, when Huahua Scenic Town, a flower-themed scenic area in Yangchang village, opened to the public. Its growing popularity, boosted by events such as the Guiyang Agricultural Carnival, brought increasing numbers of visitors to the area. However, with limited accommodation options, most tourists simply left after sightseeing, and local residents saw few benefits from the tourism boom.

In 2017, villagers learned from other destinations with established summer tourism industries and began exploring the "flower tourism + summer retreat" model. The first three households converted vacant homes into guesthouses, which quickly became fully booked. Encouraged by the returns, more villagers followed suit, gradually turning summer retreats into a growing local industry.