近年來,浙江省德清縣莫干山麓,由一些外籍人士創(chuàng)辦的低碳旅游新業(yè)態(tài)——“洋家樂”正悄然興起并漸成風(fēng)尚。
早在上世紀(jì)二三十年代,莫干山就以“竹、云、泉”的自然景觀和頗具異國情調(diào)的別墅群蜚聲海內(nèi)外。新中國成立以來,這座江南名山的旅游資源和生態(tài)環(huán)境一直得到精心呵護(hù),前往觀光度假者絡(luò)繹不絕。2007年,一個給自己取名“高天成”的南非小伙子(Grant Horsfield)從上海騎車闖進(jìn)了莫干山,一眼看中了青山環(huán)抱的“三九塢”小村落。他發(fā)現(xiàn)此地和自己故鄉(xiāng)的環(huán)境十分相似,尤其是那些土得掉渣的泥坯房,似乎讓他聞到了老家的泥土味。當(dāng)高天成聽說這些農(nóng)房大多閑置時,立刻與朋友們租下了6間大房子,租期15年。從此,他們以環(huán)保理念將泥坯房改建成低碳型“三九塢鄉(xiāng)村會所”。這個鄉(xiāng)村會所就成了莫干山“洋家樂”的發(fā)源地。
沿著用毛竹圈拼成的“395”路牌走進(jìn)莫干山鎮(zhèn)“三九塢”村,只見洋房東悉心裝修的生態(tài)旅舍與門前的竹林秀水互為映襯,呈現(xiàn)出一派讓入住者心曠神怡的“世外桃源”景象。在這里,人們放松、解壓并享受低碳環(huán)保生活方式?!叭艍]”還聘請村里人做“管家”,培訓(xùn)打工的農(nóng)婦做一桌正宗的西餐,在燒烤、露營和露天音樂會上烹飪村民種養(yǎng)的綠色有機(jī)農(nóng)產(chǎn)品,并在中國春節(jié)期間安排外國游客與農(nóng)家同樂。如此將當(dāng)?shù)剜l(xiāng)風(fēng)民俗融入西方文化的“洋家樂”很快聲名鵲起,憑借它距離杭州、上海僅1至2小時車程的交通之便,許多渴望回歸自然的游客紛紛在周末和節(jié)假日躲避城市的喧囂,前往“三九塢”探勝訪幽。
這個南非小伙子高天成從中發(fā)現(xiàn)了蘊(yùn)含的商機(jī)。2009年起,他又在離“三九塢”不遠(yuǎn)的筏頭鄉(xiāng)投資2億元興建“裸心谷生態(tài)度假村”,倡導(dǎo)游客前來消費(fèi)自然環(huán)保的“裸”生活。與此同時,法國商人司徒夫(Christophe Peres)在騎游大半個中國后也落戶森林覆蓋率達(dá)93%的莫干山,并投資5000萬元在莫干山鎮(zhèn)仙人坑村建起法式農(nóng)莊—“莫干山里法國山居”。在這個與竹林茶園相伴的農(nóng)莊里,用老舊木料和當(dāng)?shù)厥闹鸬目头?、酒窖、水庫、游泳池和玫瑰花房一?yīng)俱全,而與浪漫法式生活情調(diào)一起流露的是開發(fā)商的環(huán)保匠心。如今,這兩處高檔“洋家樂”不僅深受長三角一些外商和白領(lǐng)的青睞,而且吸引了LV、GUCCI、可口可樂和通用電氣等世界著名企業(yè)的員工來此聚會。
莫干山下“洋家樂”積極帶動了當(dāng)?shù)亍暗吞夹蓍e”的鄉(xiāng)村旅游業(yè)發(fā)展。2010年10月,在北京舉行的第二屆中國低碳旅游建設(shè)峰會將德清縣評為“中國低碳旅游示范縣”。目前,該縣通過組織“洋家樂”行業(yè)協(xié)會、成立涉外休閑度假服務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)和編制《莫干山國際休閑旅游度假區(qū)總體規(guī)劃》等措施,全力營造“洋家樂”低碳旅游新業(yè)態(tài)發(fā)展的良好環(huán)境。據(jù)德清縣旅游局統(tǒng)計(jì),該縣已擁有各類“洋家樂”35家,分別由來自南非、法國、英國和比利時等10余個國家的外商投資經(jīng)營,2011年全縣“洋家樂”僅接待入境游客就達(dá)5萬多人次。
Rural Retreats for Foreigners at Mount Mogan
Text and photographs by Tan Jin, Liu Jiancun
About 200 kilometers from Shanghai in the east and 60 kilometers from Hangzhou in the south, Mount Mogan in northern Zhejiang Province first enchanted the foreign community in Shanghai in the 1880s, for its crisp refreshing breezes, streams, and verdant forest of trees and bamboos. A development boom ensued in the mount in the late 19th and early 20th century. Large European-style villas, houses, churches and public halls were built for missionaries, businesspeople, custom officials and their families.
After 1949 when the People’s Republic was founded, foreigners left and the foreign-styled estates were handed over to the institutions in Shanghai and Hangzhou. However, the mount has remained a tourist attraction in the south of the Yangtze River Delta.
Mount Mogan has become an attraction for foreigners again thanks to Grant Horsfield, a South African, and his partners. In 2007, the young South African bicycled all the way from Shanghai to visit Mount Mogan. The villages at the foot of the mount with dense bamboo forests somehow reminded him of his homeland. After learning that many farmhouses there were idle, Horsfield and his friends leased six adobe houses for 15 years and remodeled them into a resort. They called it 395 Village Resort. The name indicates that originally only nine people of three families lived in the valley.
The remodeled resort highlights everything a green getaway should have for professionals and expatriates working and living in the hustle and bustle of cities surrounding the mount. Some villagers have been trained to make green food and western food. Locals have learned to how to be housekeepers, how to cater to these elites from Shanghai and other cities.
Since 2009, Horsfield has been developing a new resort in the valley he calls “Naked Heart Valley.” In 2009, Christophe Peres, a French businessperson, came to Mount Mogan after he had traveled across China by bike. He was fascinated by the forests there. He has built a French resort with an investment of 50 million yuan. The rural resort, with bamboo forests and tea plantations nearby, offers a complete series of amenities in French style.
Nowadays, the two high-end resorts have attracted the attention of Fortune 500 companies operating in Shanghai and surrounding cities in the south of the Yangtze River Delta. Multinationals such as LV, Gucci, Coca-Cola and GM have held activities for their employees at the rural retreats.
The foreign-styled resorts have helped local tourism in Deqing County. In October 2010, Deqing was named Demonstration Model at the Second China Summit Meeting on Low-Carbon Tourism. At present, Deqing has a series of policies in place to regulate tourism services for overseas vacationers. According to the latest survey, the county is now home to 35 resorts especially for professionals and expatriates, financed and operated by businesspeople from more than 10 countries such as South Africa, France, United Kingdom and Belgium. In 2011, the 35 resorts received more than 50,000 overseas visitors.