A staff member prepares the bed for guests at a homestay in Dazhou. [Photo by Wang Quanchao/China Daily]

China made public 320 villages in the first list in July last year, and 680 more in the second this year.

The reservoir region, home to the world's largest hydropower project, covers about 10,000 square kilometers along the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway.

In 2019, the region, which covers the Yangtze River in Hubei province and Chongqing, received over 300 million tourists. It resulted in a tourism income of 271 billion yuan.

"The Three Gorges reservoir region meets the requirement for building a quality B&B cluster. It boasts rich natural and cultural resources, comprehensive transport means, and tourists numbering in the hundreds of millions," says Sun Yunlong, deputy director of the department of tourism at Fudan University.

Green development is at the top of the agenda, says Lan Guoyi, an official of the Dazhou township. He says the township would tap into the Three Gorges reservoir tourism resources, which would help build it into an enticing rural travel destination.

Xinhua