Bird’s eye view of Matui Village

Workers were working on reconstructing the power line, while villager Lin Dajin stood by to watch the workers on the morning of May 17 at the entrance of Matui Village, Pingtan. Pingtan is building itself into an international tourism island in China.

“When I heard that the village will be undergoing a tourism development, I was elated. Now most of the villagers are left-behind seniors. After development, we’ll have more tourists and the village will be lively”, said Lin joyfully.

The development mentioned by Lin was launched in March last year to build four major projects: high-end B&Bs, leisure businesses, recreation and entertainment, and island resort.

“The estimated investment of the project is 200 million yuan. And the area of the planned land use is about 15.8 hectares, including 1.2 hectares for B&Bs. The first phase of the project, including 30 B&Bs, is expected to be open for business on August 1, with a total investment of approximately 15 million yuan,” said Zeng Jianping, general manager of Pingtan Zhonghe Cultural Tourism Development Co.

"We plan to build a cluster of contemporary stony B&Bs which will be an aesthetic representation of the new era. Teams of professional designers also came on board for the cause." According to Zeng, guidelines were set to preserve the natural environment of the area, prohibiting heavy machinery and strictly limiting the use of external construction materials and tools.

Matui is a traditional fishing village. Two thirds of folk dwellings have been rented out. To make it easier for the villagers to rest and keep fishing gear, the project also involves the building of a “fisherman’s home”.

In November 2019, Pingtan attracted businesses to tap into tourism in Matui Village in the hope of increasing the income of the villagers.

"The project can expedite the flow of people through tourism resources and diversify income sources of the villagers to drive the development of the rural economy,” said Lin Gaoli, CPC branch secretary of Matui Village.

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