Lavender industry booms in slow-paced Xinjiang village

A view of a guest house in "Huanghuang village" in Lucaogou town, Huocheng county, in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

At the end of 2018, the village decided to expand its industrial chain to promote the agri-entertainment and homestay economy.

Li Zengjie, Party chief of Lucaogou town, led a team to study homestay business in different cities in the country. Besides, young entrepreneurs were also invited to invest and establish businesses in the village.

Tian Qunying, from Hunan, is the owner of the first guest house in the village. She settled down and became a "new villager" here.

"In 2018, I visited the village and was captivated by the poetic and romantic vast lavender fields," Tian said.

Starting with a 500,000 yuan ($68,867) investment, Tian opened a small guest house with six rooms and managed to recover her initial capital in just four months.