In 2020, the Jiangkou government signed a deal with a hotel management company in Guangdong province and initiated an idle rural housing renovation project, with an aim of transforming the village.

Homes that had fallen into disuse were rented by the company.

"The renovation was conducted without damage to the original structure," says Liu Jianghua, a senior official with Taiping town.

The idea is to offer an immersive local lifestyle to visitors and have them fully interact with nature and village residents.

Villagers can get 50 yuan ($7.4) per square meter of their rented homes from the fourth year, and have been given preference for employment opportunities for homestay operations, which started in July last year.

"All of the rooms have been booked up during major holidays, such as National Day, since the homestays started to receive guests in July," says Ye Fei, a manager with the homestay cluster.