As villagers have migrated to cities for work and education, some old settlements have gradually fallen into disrepair in recent years, becoming what are aptly referred to as "hollow villages".

More than a decade ago, Hengshanwu, a village in Anji county, Zhejiang province, was home to just 34 households of seniors.

However, Chen Gu, an architect who grew up near the village, put forward the idea of building a homestay cluster when he visited Hengshanwu in 2013, aiming to transform it into a collection of homestays, which was a new concept at the time.

"Rural life will be the greatest luxury in the future," he said. Chen worked in Hangzhou, Zhejiang's capital, and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, for many years. Later, he decided to move his studio back to the countryside.

When he visited the village, Chen recalled his childhood, which he spent playing and climbing trees with friends on the hill in front of his home. "Our house had a courtyard, and my brother and I used to spend time there gazing at a curtain of rain. Many city dwellers nowadays might never understand the feeling of listening to the rain," he said.