Xinjiang Ruoqiang: Returning Home and Opening a Hotel to Awaken a Village
On September 12th, as we walked into Kurgan Village, Tieganlik Town, Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang, we often saw homestays that incorporated elements of Loulan culture.
Zhou Fengjuan, Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Ruoqiang County Committee, introduced that these homestays and youth tourism have only been opened in the past two years, with Yan Yongle, a young man who returned to his hometown to start a business, taking the lead.
The yellow walls, red gates, and ancient carriage wheels hanging on both sides of the door... This is Yan Yongle's home and also the first youth hostel in Ruoqiang County.
29 year old Yan Yongle returned to his hometown two years ago and renovated his house yard, opening the Encounter Loulan Youth Hotel. "Ruoqiang is a hub for backpackers and hikers to enter and exit southern Xinjiang. Opening a hotel allows you to meet many friends traveling from south to north, and also provides convenience for hikers." Yan Yongle, who enjoys outdoor sports, said.
Yan Yongle's hotel decoration style is full of nostalgia: old televisions, radios, horse lanterns, local women's old cabinets, dowries, and other items. On the wall, Yan Yongle created concise and poetic paintings and texts, emitting a strong cultural atmosphere. "I didn't choose to stay in a hotel in the city, but in a rural youth hostel, which gives me a feeling of returning home," said Ms. Chen, a Sichuan tourist.
"This is the true flavor of local chicken," said several young hikers sitting together in the yard, enjoying their meal together. All the people who come here for accommodation are young people, and it costs 30 yuan per night. Dining can be self-service or group meals. Vegetables, chickens, ducks, geese, cows, and sheep are all green foods that Yan Yongle grows and raises himself. "The hotel has 35 beds, which are mostly booked online and are fully booked during peak hours," said Yan Yongle, with an annual income of 100000 yuan not a problem.
For tourists who come to the village, Yan Yongle will help them tailor their travel plans. Sometimes I also serve as a free tour guide, taking tourists on a tour of the beautiful scenery of Ruoqiang and introducing the local cultural history.
With the help of Yan Yongle, six households in the village successively opened homestays. "After planting land for a lifetime, I never expected to become a boss. This old house has now become a precious commodity," said Yang Cuihua, a villager who runs the Ruoqiang Fanyun Station homestay. All of this is thanks to Xiao Yan.
How to create homestays and how to decorate them with unique features, Yan Yongle provides suggestions for the villagers. Nowadays, the renovated homestays of old houses have made the once silent Kurgan village lively. The villagers who operate homestays earn at least 50-60000 yuan per year, and the surrounding towns have begun to come here to learn and observe.
With the development of homestays, special products such as red dates from Ruoqiang County have also been sold to various parts of the country in the footsteps of many hikers.
Yan Yongle once volunteered to teach in southern Xinjiang for two years, collecting clothes, snacks, toys, and extracurricular reading materials for local children. After returning to his hometown, he continued to bring love to the children, donating love notebooks, love backpacks, and clothes.
Like most villages, many young people go out to work in Kurgan Village, while the majority of those left behind are the elderly and children. In his spare time, Yan Yongle would go to the homes of lonely elderly people in the village to help clean up, talk to them, send bread, cake, and vegetables to the elderly, and do his best to help villagers in need. "This child is very kind and capable," praised the lonely old man Chen Shutian when he mentioned Yan Yongle.
At night, Kurgan Village is very quiet, with the four characters "Encounter Loulan" constantly changing colors under neon lights. "This is the beginning. I want to drive the tourism industry in the village through homestays, work together with everyone to expand and refine the tourism industry, make Kurgan Village more vibrant, and attract more young people to return home and start businesses." Yan Yongle is full of confidence in the future.
