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The chef overseeing the pizza making
(below, with Louise Weston) had also
prepared some pastries for tea, which were
so elegant and delicate they could have come
from a Paris patisserie. Another surprise.
It was fascinating to wander around the
village and see the subsistence farming
that still goes on in these rural areas,
where families grow much of what they
eat themselves – but at a scale that is
uneconomic in farming terms.
The Chinese government has recognized
that developing B&Bs in rural areas
will contribute to creating sustainable
livelihoods there - and they have clearly
decided to aim at the top end of the
market as far as guests are concerned.
There is more about their business model
in our feature on the B&B Conference
(from p7), but these are not B&Bs in the
British mould run by a live-in owner; they
are run by young professional managers.