Shuikou village of Zhejiang province has been a favorite destination of urban travelers to the Yangtze River Delta region, with its fresh food, greenery and outdoor activities. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The COVID-19 outbreak dealt a heavy blow to the village, where tourism has been a pillar industry.

For several months, many local villagers couldn't sell their farm produce, much of which was prepared for tourists.

"We've been thinking about how to turn the crisis into opportunities," says Zhang Yuhua, director of Shuikou's ecology and tourism office.

Some of them first tried to sell stockpiled agricultural products online, which turned out to be an effective solution.

"We had more than 800 orders in just a week," says Jiang Caihong, a local homestay owner, who began to sell fresh food through her WeChat account.

"Many guests were quarantined at home and couldn't go out shopping," Jiang says.

To date, about one third of the nearly 600 homestay business operators in Shuikou have managed to get an income from selling local agricultural products and specialties online, according to the local authority.

"It's not just a new approach for villagers to increase their income, but also an effective way of maintaining customer relationships and expanding the source of customers," Zhang says.

The pandemic has also urged locals to push ahead with upgrades to their homestay facilities and service infrastructure.

Before the outbreak, the village had enjoyed good tourism business, but most operations were not quality-driven and featured an underdeveloped service concept, he says. "During the pandemic prevention and control period, people increasingly preferred high-quality travel, which requires us to adapt and change."

The village launched a campaign to spruce up courtyards and, during the past few months, offered improvement advice for individual homestays.

Decorative walls, trees and flowers have been put in place, and buildings along the village road have been given a face-lift.

The idea is to create a spectacle every step of the way, he says.

Local homestay owners have also joined various training sessions to learn what makes a good host, such as tea making, musical instrument recitals, cooking and photography skills.

So far, a tourism project that digs into the Tang Dynasty (618-907) culture while showcasing modern Chinese trends is under development and will come down the pike in September, according to Zhang.

"Most of our customers have been middle-aged or seniors, so, hopefully, this program will attract more young people," he says.