In July 2018, the Gansu Provincial Bureau of Statistics announced that in the first half of the year, the province had received 130 million domestic and international tourists, generating total tourism revenue of 86.58 billion yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 21.5% and 28.1%, respectively. In the future, the tertiary sector, primarily driven by tourism, will become an important part of the province’s economic development, and the tourism economy is expected to be the most crucial key.
The Anguo Homestay, a key poverty alleviation homestay project strongly supported by the Gannan Prefecture government, is set to officially open. The renovation and operation of homestays in the Anguo Folk Village present both significant opportunities and challenges for the Ami Gonghong Scenic Area, local herders, and Gannan as a whole.
As early as early 2018, the developer of the Anguo Homestay project, Gannan Jiuse Xiangbala Tourism Development Co., Ltd., reached an agreement with the owners of 52 farmhouses within the Ami Gonghong Scenic Area to comprehensively renovate and upgrade these 52 properties.
To date, each farmhouse has been renovated to include an average of four homestay rooms, resulting in a total of 200 homestay rooms across the entire Anguo Homestay. These 200 rooms, excluding public areas, have a minimum guest room size of 12–15 square meters and a maximum of 25–30 square meters, capable of accommodating at least 200 tourists simultaneously and meeting the needs of various types of visitors.
Despite such large-scale renovations, the Anguo Homestay has retained the traditional characteristics of Tibetan architecture. An Ami Gonghong Scenic Area spokesperson explained: “All guest rooms in the Anguo Homestay maintain the basic structure of ‘no visible wood on the outside, no visible earth on the inside,’ and the wooden boards inside are not painted or decorated in any other color, preserving their raw, rugged hues.” This is because traditionally, Tibetans have two customs when it comes to building materials: selecting construction materials based on local resource availability, and using materials directly without alteration to preserve their natural qualities.
Additionally, in terms of interior decor, the Anguo Homestay also showcases a rich Tibetan cultural influence. One homestay owner said: “To allow visitors who come into our home to deeply experience Tibetan culture and fall in love with the scenery here, every room’s decorations are handicrafts that we have treasured for a long time, including thangkas and oil paintings. We also warmly welcome guests to join us in our daily Buddhist rituals and prayers for blessings.”
In Tibetan culture, the five colors—red, white, blue, yellow, and green—represent fire, cloud, sky, earth, and water, respectively. People in Tibetan regions often use cloth banners made from these five colors, known as “torma,” to convey good fortune, and they also paint auspicious patterns on walls, which can be seen throughout the Anguo Homestay. The strong religious character is the most distinctive feature that sets Tibetan residents apart from others and is also the biggest highlight that differentiates the Anguo Homestay from other homestays.
In terms of location, the Anguo Homestay is only 5 kilometers from Xiahe Airport. In the future, the Ami Gonghong Scenic Area will provide airport pickup services for guests staying there. If flights from Shanghai and Guangzhou can also commence as scheduled to Xiahe Airport, it means the Anguo Homestay will receive more tourists from all over the country, becoming a new opportunity for the development of Gansu’s tourism economy.