Low-carbon tourism on Moganshan Mountain, E. China Tourists ride horses at an equestrian site in the Naked Retreats in Fatou Township of D...

Low-carbon tourism on Moganshan Mountain, E. China

Tourists ride horses at an equestrian site in the Naked Retreats in Fatou Township of Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province, June 2, 2012. (Xinhua/Tan Jin)

French businessman Christophe Peres introduces his resort Le Passage Mohkan Shan in Moganshan Town of Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 31, 2012.(Xinhua/Tan Jin)

A cleaning woman works at a resort of the Naked Retreats in Moganshan Town of Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province, June 1, 2012.(Xinhua/Tan Jin)

Photo taken on June 2, 2012 shows the local-style huts at the Naked Retreats in Fatou Township of Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province.(Xinhua/Tan Jin)

Photo taken on June 1, 2012 shows the solar energy collectors of a resort in Moganshan Town of Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province.(Xinhua/Tan Jin)

In 2007, South African Grant Horsfield found Sanjiuwu, a farming hamlet on the bamboo clad Moganshan Mountain to the west of Shanghai, where he rented some underused farmhouses and converted them into guesthouses. Thus, the Naked Retreats were born, marking the rising of low-carbon tourist sites on the Moganshan Mountain, a national scenic spot in Zhejiang Province.

In 2009, Grant invested 200 million yuan (31.5 million U.S. dollars) to build another resort not far from Sanjiuwu, while in 2011, French businessman Christophe Peres also built a resort, Le Passage Mohkan Shan.

According to local tourism authorities, there are now 35 similar resorts in the Moganshan area, built by investors of over 10 foreign countries. These resorts were built with local natural materials, such as bamboo, wood and stone, and they advocated healthy, eco-friendly lifestyle, providing a rural refuge from the stresses and strains of city living and office work, thus attracting a large number of foreign businessmen and white-collar workers.

In October 2010, Deqing County was awarded the "low-carbon tourism model county" at a tourism summit in Beijing, capital of China.