NBA star center Yao Ming and his beloved Ye Li chose here for their wedding portrait, but more Shanghainese take here as their “backyard garden” for relaxation and recreation from the fast pace of city life.

Here in White Sand Village, it's the green tourism and agriculture that bring them, according to Xia Yuyun, Party chief of the village.

White Sand Village is surrounded by forests and lakes in Lin’an, a county-level city of Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, September 18, 2007. [chinadaily.com.cn]

From Shanghai, it takes less than four hours' drive to arrive at this peaceful and lush environment. Shades of green are seen all the way to White Sand Village in Lin'an, a county-level city of Hangzhou in East China’s Zhejiang Province.

Surrounded by forests, the small village has only about 150 families settled in an area of 9.4 square kilometers, but 97 percent of it is covered in forest. While green is dominant here, so is its color of success.

The farmers here are also owners of small family-owned hotels welcoming large numbers of visitors from nearby cities on weekends and holidays. According to Xia, the tiny farm resort has accommodated over 100,000 visitors from Shanghai since the Taihu Lake Source scenery area opened in 1998.

The farmers now can earn about 10,000 yuan annually per capita, with tourism contributing more than half their profits.

But this was not the case two decades ago. Back then, trees were cut down and sold. That resulted in disastrous mountain torrents, leading to landslides creating a perilous livelihood for farmers.

Things are now different as the village takes a new road of development. They started selling locally grown goods, such as bamboo shoots and walnuts, but the villagers were just as poor as before. Realizing charcoal and logs were not profitable, they turned to green tourism as an environment-friendly approach to fortune.

A hotel owner nicknamed "Millionaire Huang" used to be a woodsman. He was among the poorest in the village and injured one of his ears while working. But now he is praised as an advocate for environmental protection.

"Green tourism has brought us fortune," he said.

The water from the lakes in White Sand Village is the source of drinking water for the Lin'an city, about half hour's drive from Hangzhou. The lakes are protected under strict restrictive standards which is why the number of family-run hotels are limited here.