Every night at a village inn (酒馆) in Southwest China's Yunnan province, the owner and local performers lead a group of travelers to sing and dance around a campfire.
It's one part of a life that the manager, Yu Wulin, had never imagined. The 47-year-old man used to be a farmer when he was younger, like most of the people in the poor village then. Now he runs two well-known inns with his wife in the village, which is now a famous place for tourists.
"Our people didn't have any business sense," he said. "I never expected that I would be the first person to get rich by starting my own business in the village. "
Yu's story began in 1996 when he was chosen to take part in a fair in Shanghai to show the local culture and traditions. That trip helped to open up the eyes of the then-20-year-olds.
At the end of the 1990s, more and more travelers from across the country began visiting the village. They would hike during the day and stay in the village overnight. Those visitors chose to stay at Yu's home because he was the only person who was able to speak Putonghua in the village back then.
As time passed, more and more travelers chose to stay with Yu and his wife, who cooked local food and prepared traditional songs and dances for them, free of charge. People began suggesting to Yu that he start an inn so he could receive more visitors. He agreed after consideration.
In 2001, with the help of his relatives and friends, he opened the village's first inn with 8 beds. Yu and his wife became more well-known for the service they provided and caught the attention of even more visitors. Some of them even lent money to the couple to help them upgrade the inn.
The house with eight beds became two bigger ones with a total of 33 rooms in 2016. "In fact, it is very hard to run the inns—being busy from morning to night every day," he said. "But, doing this work has allowed me to make a large number of good friends from across the country who have helped me, encouraged me and warmed me. That has made me feel happy. "
Yu's success has motivated other villagers to follow in his footsteps. After learning about the business from Yu and his wife, some started their own businesses. Laomudeng now has 33 inns and restaurants, which have attracted more and more guests from various parts of the country.
During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday this year, nearly 10,000 people enjoyed the scenery, food and traditional dance performances in the village. "Our village is getting better, and there are an increasing number of visitors. Most of our villagers have gone out of poverty (贫穷) through their tourism businesses," Yu said. "I▲, so I will stick with it no matter how hard it may be or how tired I am. "
