China has launched a drive of beautiful countryside construction, which in turn has fueled tourism. CGTN's Zhao Yunfei takes us to Haotang Village in central China's Henan province.

Rural hollowing is an issue that strikes countryside areas throughout China, but the Haotang Village seems just fine. Even people who have lived in cities, like Dong Guanghui, have decided to move their families here. Dong and his wife opened a tea house when they arrived from Henan's Provincial capital, a place they decorated as a home restaurant.

DONG GUANGHUI TEA HOUSE OWNER "We moved here six years ago. The biggest outcome. I am able to spend some time with my family. If I stayed in the city to pursue career development, I couldn't control my life. Now my work and life both happen at my own pace."

Dong says his children, who attend a primary school in the village, deserve a childhood in a rural environment and organic food. He says they are not running the teahouse for large profits. Tea is just a beverage to share their mood with guests. For about a decade, many villages in China have moved away from mountainous areas for seeking a better livelihood. Haotang village didn't follow that path due to financial concerns. Instead, the villagers invited architects to help renovate their homes. The preservation of old houses has unexpectedly attracted tourists.

ZHAO YUNFEI XINYANG, HENAN PROVINCE "The Haotang village doesn't suffer from poverty at all, but its surrounding villages do. Like here in Foshan, the village is developing its tea industry as a long term poverty alleviation mechanism. Now, the tourist traffic and tea product consumption brought by Haotao are major driving forces of Foshan's local economy, kind of an idea of regional integrated development."

CAO YONGGEN HAOTANG VILLAGE PARTY BRANCH SECRETARY "We want to set Haotang Village as a central point and apply our development idea to neighboring villages. The bigger tourism site can lift other villages out of poverty."

Agricultural production, product processing, and tourism services, the village follows three steps of industrial development. But Cao says they are not in a rush to get to step three. Because farming, the first industry is what they are good at.

CAO YONGGEN HAOTANG VILLAGE PARTY BRANCH SECRETARY "We see many tourists here and some of them even want to stay for another day or two, because the village has its own spirit. We have used a proper development method, to respect the function of the village, to respect the will of villagers, to pursue green development."

No large-scale development is the consensus. But when to make the next move and in how much scale, the villagers say they need further discussions. Zhao Yunfei, CGTN, Haotang Village, Henan Province.