Yueqinhai · Jiaoyu Seaview homestay in the night

Pingtan, the closest island on the Chinese mainland to the island of Taiwan and an emerging international tourism destination, boasts stunning coastal scenery along the Taiwan Straits and has become a popular travel spot for tourists from across the country. A distinctive seafront homestay named Yueqinhai · Jiaoyu Seaview Homestay in Pingtan has recently won visitors' hearts with its unique design and warm service, a heartfelt creation of a father and daughter carrying their hometown connection.

A guest posed for photo

Ding Qin, the homestay's manager and a post-80s Pingtan native, left her hometown to make a living at 18 and returned in 2023 with a dream of love. The nearly 20-mu homestay complex shaped like a cruise ship is filled with romantic details. The 33.44-meter flower path symbolizes eternal love, and the 13.14-meter zipper-shaped decoration hints at a brighter future. The buildings each have their own character: Building 1 features a half-male, half-female sculpture on its wall; Building 2 rests like a fetus within a heart-shaped swimming pool; and Building 5 houses a 3D-printed ring-shaped bar, a tribute to love.

Ding Qin tasting a new coffee blend

Ding Qin insists on the warmth of homestay as the heart of the operation. She rejected the idea of a large suite and kept a spacious public area with sofas and bookshelves facing the sea instead. "The biggest difference between a homestay and a hotel is the warmth, a public space for guests to chat," Ding Qin said. Visitors have left positive comments online, describing the homestay as a peaceful place to escape where every detail tells a love story. "What you give out with love comes back to you," Ding Qin always says, believing sincere service will win guests' hearts.

The homestay's striking exterior wall

A corner of the homestay

The homestay is rebuilt from an old sand factory where Ding Qin's parents once worked, a place of nostalgia for the Ding family. Ding Laiming, Ding Qin's father, left Pingtan to start a business after high school due to poverty. He decided to return and contribute to his hometown when hearing the government's call for overseas talents to build the international tourism island. "This is where our family starts, our roots are here," he said.

Inside a guest room

Ding Qin took over the reconstruction project and devoted herself to every detail. She kept the original structure of the sand factory and covered the rough stone walls with textured paint so the walls wouldn't snag guests' clothes. The seaside foundation, eroded by waves for decades, cost three times more to reinforce than to build a new one. She oversaw every construction step on site even after a typhoon destroyed the construction materials and washed away the freshly poured cement. "I want more people to see the sea here and feel the warmth of home," Ding Qin said, driven by her childhood memory of waiting for her father on the beach.

Sea view from the café

The homestay opened in May 2025 and welcomed its first Spring Festival this year, drawing visitors from near and far. Its 270-degree sea view café is the most popular spot, with the sparkling sea outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Lin Yeyi, a college student from Hangzhou, changed her travel plan to visit Pingtan and ended up staying two more days. She said the homestay is like a movie set. Chen Xuebin, the store manager with rich homestay management experience, joined the team attracted by Pingtan's scenery and Ding Qin's operation philosophy. "A homestay carries emotions, and sincere service makes guests feel at home," he said.

The homestay's swimming pool

As night falls, the homestay is still brightly lit. Transformed from an old sand factory to a warm seafront homestay, from leaving hometown to returning, this white cruise ship-shaped building not only stands between the mountains and the sea, but also becomes a harbor for wanderers to return to their roots and a warm corner in every guest's heart.