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MOGANSHAN, Zhejiang Province: Travelling has been associated with being environmentally unfriendly because it leaves behind a large carbon footprint. One resort in China is offering travellers a chance to vacation on a good conscience.
China is blessed not just with spectacular scenery, but also a lucrative domestic tourist market. With high personal savings among its people, domestic travel has seen an increase of 11.7 per cent so far this year, translating to revenue amounting to more than US$72 billion.
Eco-tourism may be common elsewhere but in China, it is still in its infancy. Recognising a gap in this industry, Naked Retreat is offering an eco-friendly resort in the pristine bamboo forest of Moganshan.
Grant Horsfield, founder of Naked Retreat, said: "There's no one else like us. I think this is a very big potential niche. Hopefully, everyone in the long run will take the more environmentally friendly path."
Eight farmhouses have been renovated to include eco-friendly amenities for the green traveller. Solar energy powers electricity, while water is recycled for irrigation and fans are used instead of air-conditioners.
Naked Retreat is also helping the elderly villagers by giving them jobs, with the youngest being 61-year-old Yao Jian Min.
"We take care of the bamboos, chop firewood etc. It's a good thing and we welcome this. We are over 60 and we can still earn some money," he said.
Yao Lian Chu, 68, said: "I've been working here for a year. It allows me to be economically more flexible. Old people like us are sometimes short of money."
Not content with just being eco-friendly, the company is pushing the boundaries of eco-tourism.
"We are trying to make a leap and be the first in the world to do this. It would be the greenest resort in the world," said Horsfield.
The new resort aims to be the lowest carbon emitting, energy-efficient and sustainable resort in China.
It will reuse 100 per cent of all its water, emit cleaner air than it consumes, create topsoil for farming from its everyday operation, and generate heating and cooling energy from sustainable supplies.
Naked Retreat is expected to open next year in time for the Shanghai World Expo. According to unofficial figures, 1.9 billion people are expected to travel domestically during the Expo, with revenue exceeding US$130 billion.
- CNA/so
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