Employing experience

As a guide, He has been to many guesthouses and hotels, which inspired him to renovate his family's home into a distinctive guesthouse, using local stones, wood and old furniture collected from villagers. The project lasted two-and-a-half years and cost 1.6 million yuan.

The 13-room guesthouse opened at the start of 2019 and received about 300 customers that year. Fewer travelers have visited since the COVID-19 pandemic, but his business has gradually picked up over the past month, he says.

While he was renovating his own yard in 2017, he started working with seven families in Tacheng, renting their spare granaries and renovating the buildings into guesthouses.

He and his partner pay each family 10,000 yuan as renting fees, and additionally, give them 25 percent of the profits.

He's experience in tourism pushed him to target middle-budget and high-end consumers.

"Such positioning will help to protect nature and the culture in my hometown because the relatively high prices will naturally filter out a large number of visitors traveling on low budgets and too many people. It will be easier to maintain the tourist attractions and prevent the town from being over-commercialized," He says.