Businessman builds dream hotel at foot of mountains
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Qu Ming, founder and owner of Yun House. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn |
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Early in 2012, Qu first came to the town of Xingping, located beside the Li River upstream from Yangshuo. He explored from village to village on foot in a search for the ideal site to build his dream hotel, which he had planned for years.
After walking among fruit-bearing trees along a cobble road, he found a traditional cottage compound of cob-brick walls and gray tile roofs, which sits at the foot of mountains.
"It was a great surprise," Qu said. "Houses built with cob bricks are representative of the typical northern Guangxi culture. Cob bricks are a mix of sand, straw and clay soil from paddy fields, which make rooms warm in winter and cool in summer thanks to their great features. But they are dying out with the popularity of modern construction materials."
Qu reached agreement with the villagers and renovated the cottages into a chic boutique hotel, while retaining the original architectural details and many decorative features.
