Putting their heart into their home
Disillusioned by big city living, one couple have returned to their rural roots and established a homestay with an award-winning aesthetic, Yang Feiyue reports.
A restaurant featuring steel structures and glass curtain walls is one of the highlights of Li Xiumei's rural abode.[Photo provided to China Daily]
Yet, the steady situation changed soon after the birth of their son and she quickly realized she wasn't able to spend enough time with him.
It was an accident which gave Li the epiphany she needed. She blacked out after pulling an all-night shift preparing a bid presentation and the doctor's diagnosis was that she had suffered a retinal detachment.
"When I was laying on the operating table, I wondered if I would be blind for the rest of my life," she says.
It made her, metaphorically, "see the light", and she decided to take the plunge.
In 2018, Li quit her job and went back to Dongtianmu village, Lin'an district, Hangzhou. The village is nestled in a forest of bamboo and has been a popular summer getaway among travelers since the 1990s, encouraging locals to open dozens of rural homestays.
Li knew there was an opportunity to take advantage of the idyllic setting and appeal to urban travelers, so, the couple sold their two apartments in Hangzhou and downtown Lin'an and invested them all into renovating their new home.
