Camping becomes a popular new lifestyle and business format in Suichang county. [Photo/WeChat account: ls-mnews]

The first camping festival held in Suichang county – administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – recently took place at the county's Zaihushan camping base.

The camping ground is an outdoor cultural tourism facility aimed at linking existing business formats such as homestays with camping and gradually forming a "camping+" leisure model.

It's also moving to drive the development of surrounding industrial clusters and promote the more widespread adoption of ecological values.

To meet the diverse needs of tourists, Suichang county has invested more than 300,000 yuan ($43,556) to upgrade the camping base since the start of the year.

It has also developed a Zaihushan WeChat mini program to provide tourists with full-process services such as site reservations, equipment rentals, meal deliveries, as well as a water and electricity supply through digital means.

According to statistics, since it started operating in July last year, the camping ground has played host to 7,000 tourists and generated more than 500,000 yuan in revenue by charging site fees, equipment rentals and through other means.

Its popularity has also brought prosperity to the surrounding areas. The influx of tourists has made the nearby homestays and farmhouses suddenly very popular. Some vendors even made 10,000 yuan a day by selling fruit and drinks.

At the same time, the facility has also helped solve the problem of surplus labor in rural areas.