Ningxia homestays draw increasing crowds

Scenery, culture, food and wine are region's greatest attractions

Yang Wei never expected she'd find high-end homestays in Guyuan before she visited the city in southern Ningxia Hui autonomous region with her family a few months ago.

She said the environment has also greatly improved in the city, which is located at the foot of the Liupan Mountains, and remembered that she found it difficult to find a dry toilet when she first came to Guyuan on a visit a few years ago.

"Now, there are intelligent toilets at many homestays," she said. "The environment is especially good, and my family is able to enjoy local specialties, including red trout and beef at the homestay in the evening while taking in the pleasant scenery."

Many of her friends from Beijing and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, also have a good impression after experiencing homestay tours in Ningxia following Yang's recommendation.

"Now, tourists find it hard to book a room in a nice homestay during the tourist season," she added.

Tourism authorities said that characteristic homestay clusters have become new tourist attractions in the region.

One particular success, the Yellow River homestay clusters in Zhongwei city, have even been the subject of the exhibition, Songs of the Earth: Artistic Documentary for a Better China, which was hosted by the China Academy of Art at the China Millennium Monument in Beijing in March.

The Yellow River homestay clusters, which incorporate Ningxia characteristics, have become a popular holiday resort themed on the desert, as well as the most popular and stylish new tourist attraction in Ningxia in recent years, local authorities said.

By restoring 200-year-old villages, the Yellow River homestay clusters have introduced homestays, camping, catering, galleries, bookstores and cultural and creative industries to promote experiences such as desert trips, personalized picnics and visits to prehistoric sites, creating a new, in-depth travel experience in western China.