No place like homestay as rustic approach pays off

Homestay owner Zheng Yunfang has been busy answering customers' calls, taking down their information, while checking the booking status of her hostelry since early August.

"Our 18 guest rooms were fully booked over the past few weeks, and we've received bookings up to November," says Zheng, in her 50s, who runs Ziming Mountain Villa in Shuikou village, East China's Zhejiang province.

Most of her guests have been to her place before, and they often bring in new guests during their visits, Zheng says. "By the look of things, business shouldn't be a problem in the second half of the year."