A potter introduces the process of pottery pot making to a tourist

On October 7, Mr. Liu, a citizen of Jingzhou, drove his wife and child to Jinjiayao • Yi Guesthouse in Chuandian Town, Jingzhou District. There they experienced the unique craft of "Yingcheng Clay Pottery", a provincial intangible cultural heritage item, and stayed at an Internet-famous guesthouse featuring pottery pots.

Short country tours and suburban eco-tours have become increasingly popular with tourists. In recent years, Jingzhou District has made persistent efforts to develop distinctive rural tourist attractions such as Tonglinggang Vegetable Theme Park, Putiquan Scenic Area, Jinjiayao • Yi Guesthouse and Pink Muhly Grass Garden in Hongqi Forestry Farm. During the National Day holiday, the rural tourist attractions in Jingzhou received 77,300 tourists and achieved revenues of 20.7132 million yuan.

Amid the boom of traditional travel modes such as featured culture, landscape resources, fishing, agritainment and farming experience, country tours featuring folk customs and guesthouse are heating up in Jingzhou. During the National Day holiday, 78.49 percent of guesthouses in Jingzhou were rented out. Located at Shuangyan Village, Chuandian Town, 30 kilometers away from Jingzhou Ancient City, with an area of 1,000 mu and a forest coverage rate of 80 percent, Jinjiayao • Yi Guesthouse is a slow life convalescent forest holiday resort featuring country guesthouse, forest cabin, outdoor adventure, camping, clay pottery making and cultural & creative base.

Last year Jinjiayao • Yi Guesthouse brought in "Yingcheng Clay Pottery", a provincial intangible cultural heritage item, and worked with Mr. Xia Yugu, a successor to "Yingcheng Clay Pottery", to construct kilns and pottery making rooms in the village. Meanwhile, it explored Shuangyan culture, and offered study tours and family tours, to make tourists experience pottery firing, making and painting in a slow life, and create a strong cultural atmosphere for country tours. By offering featured guesthouses, we enable tourists to enjoy a wonderful night in the countryside and relax themselves after a day of tour, said Shu Zheying.

There are a total of 15 guesthouses in the scenic area, including apartments, cabins and pottery pot houses. These guesthouses, which feature local landscape and folk customs in terms of appearance, colors and interior decoration, can meet tourists' various accommodation needs. "Featured folk customs + guesthouses" has made Shuangyan an "Internet-famous village". Since 2019, Jinjiayao • Yi Guesthouse has attracted more than 100,000 tourists.