Shortly after dawn, the 680-year-old Lion Grove Garden wakes up to the sound of birds and its moist air is suffused with ascent. With a view of pavilions, early     1     (visitor) to this garden in downtown Suzhou, can feel     2     sense of Zenlike inner peace.

When monks during the Yuan Dynasty first constructed this garden, they may have wanted to enjoy a quiet retreat. But this charming garden has attracted celebrity guests,     3     have left poems, paintings and     4     (history) anecdotes in the following centuries.

“In recent years, we’ve tried     5     (restore) the landscapes of classical gardens, but a delicate garden cannot be an empty shell,” says Bai Lingzhi, deputy director of Suzhou Administrative Bureau of Garden and Landscaping. “We need creative ideas to lead people to the lifestyle     6     (advocate) by the gardens in the era,” she explains.

Last year, a new project was launched,     7     (allow) tourists in small groups to reserve places to enter the garden in the early morning before the regular opening time. Their visit ends up     8     making a traditional folding fan.

In 1997 and 2000, nine of the best-known classical gardens of Suzhou     9    (register) onto the World Heritage List. As UNESCO remarks: “Classical Chinese garden design, which seeks to re-create natural landscapes in miniature, is nowhere     10     (well) illustrated than in the nine gardens.”

China is in the middle of a boom in rural tourism as city residents escape the country’s     1     (rapid) expanding urban centers to head out to small communities and farms for a taste of the simple life. And the tourism industry couldn’t be     2     (happy).

With international tourism all but impossible due to     3    ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a demand for domestic alternatives isn’t     4     (surprise) , especially as China is home to 55 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

But Chinese tourists aren’t just heading to their country’s historic and natural wonders; some     5     (seek) something a bit different. In posts to Chinese social media site Weibo, one user named Ancailie said after spending a day watching rice grow     6     eating home-grown food, she was “much more delighted”.

Chinese-owned Trip. com Group, one of the world’s largest online travel     7     (agency), said rural tourism trips in China had increased year-on-year     8     more than 300%. The trend is so     9     (profit) that Trip. com is planning a “five-year action plan” to promote rural tourism.

Zhou Mingqi, founder and general manager of Shanghai Tour Guide Enterprise Management Consulting, said Chinese people were getting tired of lives in big cities. “There is a need     10     (experience) a different kind of life to change a lifestyle on the weekend,” he said.