An aerial view of Moganshan town in Deqing county, Huzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

Rural areas in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, attract nearly 130 million tourist visits a year, with rural tourism becoming an important part of the local economy, according to the city's culture and tourism authorities.

The figures were released at a rural tourism event organized by China Media Group that was held in the city on Sept 22.

Huzhou has four national-level tourist resorts, two villages recognized as Best Tourism Villages by UN Tourism, and 727 scenic villages. Yucun was named a Best Tourism Village in 2021, while Digang received the recognition in 2025. 

Huzhou's rural tourism revenue rose from 6.42 billion yuan ($956.30 million) in 2016 to 15.3 billion yuan last year. Per capita income from rural tourism accounted for 15 percent of rural residents' per capita disposable income.

Meanwhile, Guzhu village in Changxing county generated about 1.2 billion yuan in tourism revenue last year, while 14 lakeside villages in Wuxing district added more than 40 new cultural and tourism offerings within the space of the last two years.

Huzhou has also introduced measures to support young people working and starting businesses in rural areas. A local regulation promoting youth development in rural areas took effect on May 20.

From January to August, the city added more than 1,800 youth entrepreneurship projects and brought together over 60,000 young people working or starting businesses in rural areas.