A sweet experience

The establishment of Li's boutique hotel came on the back of the local government's push to use tourism as another catalyst for economic growth.

Last year, when the Nine House opened, Jiashan's Dayun town was one of the first locations in Zhejiang to be designated as a demonstration zone for tourism development. The town's two largest tourist magnets are the Yunlan Bay Hot Springs and Aficion, a chocolate factory that takes visitors through a tour of its production process and the history of chocolate.

According to official statistics, the county received more than 13 million tourists from around the world last year－a rise of 45 percent from 2015－and generated 15 billion yuan in revenue. The local government expects tourism revenue to hit 30 billion yuan by 2020.

"The chocolate factory is at the core of our tourism strategy, which is based on the concept of sweetness. This core is supported by other segments such as our flower trade, hot springs and wedding photography. We aim to provide tourists with a sweet travel experience," said Lu Yun, the secretary of the Party committee of Dayun town.

"Looking forward, the government will continue to provide strong support to tourism enterprises in the town to provide visitors with a greater selection of travel services and products. We don't want to be just a provincial-level tourist destination－we want to become a national travel hotspot."

Cao Chen contributed to this story