Popular B&B on Tiger Leaping Gorge trail becomes tourist hub in SW China's Yunnan

The sharply contrasting colors of the Jinsha and Hengjiang rivers create a stunning natural spectacle in Shuifu city, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Zeng Zhihui)

On the 23-kilometer Tiger Leaping Gorge trail along the Jinsha River, Feng Defang runs a B&B that has become popular with both Chinese and international visitors in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Feng, a retired soldier, returned to his rural hometown in Yunnan in the 1980s, where he built a house and settled down. One night in 1988, two foreign tourists who had no place to stay after trekking in the area came to his home for help.

Although he couldn’t speak their language, he managed to communicate through gestures. He offered them a place to sleep for the night and declined their offer to pay. He also made herbal soup to help with their stomach and digestive troubles.

Soon after, Feng cleared out a spare room in his home, put in three beds, and let trekkers stay for free.

"Some would quietly leave a few yuan (1 yuan is about $0.14), and others would slip my child a small gift. I was happy either way. I just loved hearing stories from beyond the mountains," he recalled.

His kindness to stranded backpackers was featured in Lonely Planet in 1992. As word spread and more hikers came, he built a proper B&B to accommodate them. Sitting halfway along the Tiger Leaping Gorge trail, he named his B&B the Halfway guesthouse.

Feng, who had only completed primary school, began teaching himself languages to serve his overseas guests better. He progressed from learning single English words to conversing about the weather and routes. He has even picked up basic Japanese and German. To assist hikers, he created maps of the local area in multiple languages.

Halfway now has grown to 47 rooms, with reservations during peak season requiring months of advance notice. Visitors from more than 90 countries have stayed there.

"Twenty years ago, people in the village were desperate to leave the mountains to find work in the cities. Now, with trekking gaining popularity, more than 90 percent of villagers are engaged in tourism, and even my children have returned to start their own businesses," Feng said.