People in most villages in Northern China spend winters doing nothing until the planting season arrives in spring. But not so for the villagers of Yandunjiao Village in Shandong Province's Rongcheng City.
"We are much busier in winter than in summer," Gao Yongjin says.
Gao runs the village's biggest guest house, which is less than 10 meters from the sea. Every year thousands of swans fly from Siberia and other areas and stay there from November to April.
"Visitors come to see the swans in winter," Gao says. "They prefer to stay in our village for several days to enjoy seaside life."
Over 60 of the village's 220 families run guest houses.
"You can see our village is so clean," Gao says. "We don't have professional cleaners. We volunteer to keep our village clean because we know what a clean environment means to us."
After the swans leave for their summer places, Gao and other villagers greet tourists who come to Yandunjiao to paint the sea views. Summertime visitors can also fish.
"We're busy all year round," Gao says. "This year, the village has welcomed over 80,000 tourists, who generated 10 million yuan (US$1.53 million)."
Rongcheng was among the second list of 97 demonstration zones (示范区) for developing tourism by using local resources. The list was launched by the Ministry of Culture and. Tourism in Rongcheng on Dec. 17, 2020. It launched the first list of 71 demonstration areas in 2019.
