Chinese Fishermen Move into 'Waterborne Villas'

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 27, 2002

Chinese Fishermen Move into 'Waterborne Villas'

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With glazed tile walls and roofs and all its dainty furnishing, the newly-built villa of Chen Lianggao, a fisherman in Xinghua City, east China's Jiangsu Province, is no different from the town houses of city dwellers.

But Chen's villa, which costs over 300,000 yuan (36,000 U.S. dollars), is renovated from a 30-ton concrete vessel and still floats on the Dazong Lake that flows across the city.

"My 'waterborne villa' makes a nice home and can accommodate many visitors", said the smiling Chen.

To date, over 1,000 fishermen's families in Xinghua City have moved into such villas, a third of the total, in sharp contrast with their past life, when home meant just a little fishing boat that took all the family to fishing tours.

Some have installed phones, bought TVs and even opened Karaoke bars in their villas.

Improvement of life was a result of the fishermen's hard work and smartness in doing business. In recent years, most fishermen have increased income by contracting certain areas of the lake to raise fish and crabs and selling their products to neighboring cities and provinces.

As more tourists flood into Xinghua City to visit the villas, local farmers have offered tours around the lake in their yachts and opened waterborne hotels to accommodate tourists, which totaled over 10,000 last year.

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