Across China: Boao Forum brings new fortune to fishing town

In this once unknown fishing village, palm fronds flutter against the backdrop of the blue ocean, luxury hotels dot the skyline and cars shuttle down tree-lined boulevards.

The ongoing 2016 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) has once again cast the spotlight on Boao, where government leaders, Nobel Prize laureates and international scholars are discussing Asia's future development.

It's hard to imagine that only two decades ago, Boao was just an obscure town in south China's Hainan Province, with fewer than 16,000 residents, most of whom earned their living through rice cultivation and fishing. The forum has been credited with changing the fortune of the 86-sq-km town, which hosts more than 400 major conferences and a swarm of tourists every year.

"Back in the 1990s, streets in Boao were only a few hundred meters long," said Mo Zeyu, a 73-year-old retiree who used to work at a local broadcasting station. "There was only one hotel and one department store, and the town was busy only during the fishing season."

In 2001, the town, with its beautiful sea and mountain views, great air quality and quiet countryside, was chosen to host the conferences of the BFA, a non-governmental and non-profit international organization founded to promote regional economic development and cooperation. Since then, Boao has seen a new era of development.

Jiang Xiang, a bar owner, is among the business owners who have benefited.

Jiang, 53, said that Boao's rising reputation led to a flood of tourists, but most of them did not stay overnight then because nightlife was too dull.

In 2009, Jiang, who grew up in a fishing village, opened a seaside-themed bar.

"I love fishing villages, and I wanted to fill the bar with my childhood memories," he said.

The bar, named Story of the Sea, opened on April 8, 2010, just one day before the year's Boao Forum commenced. The number of guests who showed up that day was "way beyond" his expectations.

"There were numerous forum guests, journalists and famous TV hosts -- people I had seen only on television," he said. Visitors continued to come even after the forum was over, and the bar's revenues were strong, he said.

Hotels and family inns also multiplied over the years.

Mo Zhi, who owns a family inn in Boao's Chaolie Village, used to make a living from growing rice and chili. Poor villagers had to go to big cities as migrant workers, he recalled.

"I did not know what the Boao Forum was when it opened in 2001," said Mo, owner of the Uncle Mo Family Inn, which sits near the forum venue.

With increasing tourists to the town, Mo and fellow villagers started to decorate their houses and rent them to visitors.

"We also provide bicycle tours and fishing programs for our guests, which many city dwellers find interesting," Mo said, adding that salaries have improved greatly. Of the village's 21 families, 8 have opened inns, he added.

In Boao, more than 50 family inns and a dozen starred hotels have popped up in recent years, receiving over 5,000 visitors daily on average. During this year's Lunar New Year holiday, about 35,000 tourists visited the town every day, according to official figures.

Last year, the city of Qionghai, which oversees Boao, received more than eight million tourists, up 20 percent year on year. Total tourism revenue stood at around five billion yuan (768 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 50 percent, according to government data.

The Boao government is taking steps to boost local tourism, with a garden under construction that will offer a number of health and leisure programs.

"I'm sure Boao will become more international and attractive in the future," said Wu Jianqiang, Party chief of Boao. Endi