Arkadia Retreat is designed in Western European style. [Photo/Lishui Daily]

Located in Yankeng Lingtou village in Songyang, Lishui, Zhejiang province, Arkadia Retreat is situated on a mountainside 600 meters above sea level.

"Our target customers are white-collar workers and expats living in China and working in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen," said the operator Zhou Lingling.

Zhou and her husband who is from France decided to open a homestay in Yankeng Lingtou village after they had a vacation there in 2017. In October 2017, with the support of the local government, Zhou rented an old farmhouse at the entrance of the village and hired a Spanish designer.

In April this year, Arkadia Retreat officially opened, and orders keep pouring in, many of which are from overseas tourists.

Arkadia Retreat provides guests with a "home in the forest". [Photo/Lishui Daily]

"Our retreat has a bit of a Western European style and we want to provide our guests with a 'home in the forest'," Zhou said.

Surprisingly, many foreign travel magazines have already come to the retreat to do photo spreads. The international popularity of Arkadia Retreat is growing rapidly, and many foreign tourists have expressed their willingness to invest in a homestay in the village.

Eight years ago, Yankeng Lingtou village had no more than 50 villagers. In 2012, the village began to use its distinctive natural and cultural landscapes to build itself a "painters' village".

Now, the village attracts nearly 30,000 painters, art major students and tourists every year, bringing to the village extra income of more than 3 million yuan ($428,496).