Homecoming scenes

She recalls how villagers used to plant tea and other crops and raise pigs to make a living, before tourism began bringing in extra income.

Longji village is an ancient Zhuang stockaded settlement with a history dating back over 430 years. It's famous for its picturesque views of terraced fields and well-preserved examples of ancient Zhuang residences.

In 2010, the Longji Zhuang Ecomuseum opened in the village, and Hou's house was chosen as one of the few exemplary residences due to its long history and good state of preservation. The museum helps owners of historical properties to repair their houses and persuades them to preserve antiques and other old items.

It's one of the 10 "ecomuseums" under the guidance of the Anthropology Museum of Guangxi, a traditional museum based in the regional capital, Nanning. Two ecomuseums relate to the history and culture of the Han people, while the remaining eight cover other Chinese ethnic groups.

Guangxi's government started the project in late 2003, and the most recent ecomuseum opened in 2011.

Hou Wenqiang, curator of the ecomuseum in Longji, says: "Many people assume that the village's exhibition hall is the ecomuseum. Actually, the instant you enter the village, you're placing yourself in the ecomuseum, which includes the whole community.

"We need to promote ourselves to raise public awareness about what the definition of an ecomuseum is. China's first ecomuseums were established in the late 1990s in Guizhou province."