Now, a 3.8-square-kilometer area has been earmarked as a hot spring tourist resort. The area contains Qing Hot Springs, a park containing ancient residences and a fluorite museum.

The Jingyuan ancient houses park has more than 80 structures from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).

A plum blossom fragrance wafted to my nostrils once I got into the park. Walking past each ancient building at the park was like flipping through a history book.

The fluorite museum is an eye-opener.

Grotesque crystallized minerals with polychromatic colors are on display, including a 94.7-ton crude fluorite stone, the world's biggest luminous fluorite ball at 1.75 meters in diameter, and a fluorite and jade-made feast with 108 dishes.

The resort is expected to cater to 3.5 million people annually by 2017, and rake in 3.5 billion yuan in tourism income.

The hot spring resources have also greatly benefited local villagers.

The county has nearly 20 villages, where locals now offer farmhouse-styled cuisine to tourists.

Last year, 3.7 million tourists visited the villages and now some rural households' annual income has surpassed 500,000 yuan a year, according to the local government.

He Guangxing, who is now in his 50s, from Guodong village opened his family-run restaurant offering local cuisine to tourists in 1999.

The restaurant is practically where he lives－a 400-year-old two-story building made of stone and wood.

The restaurant can cater to up to 20 tables at a time. Most of guests, often from neighboring cities like Shanghai, drop by after enjoying a hot spring treatment.

A meal for a table of 10 costs an average of 400 yuan.

Dozens of residents in the village like He have also opened restaurants or hotels to cater to the increasing number of tourists, who come mostly to savor the local natural environment and village life.

He says his annual income ranges between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan.

Among other local government efforts to promote Wuyi is a one-month hot spring festival, which has been held every year over the late October-November period.

Celebrations are staged and discounts offered during the period, the government official says.

Separately, bars, a shopping plaza, F3 racing tracks, and health facilities will be established to spice up the hot springs experience, says Zhang Xinyu, the head of the county.

"We'll even provide hot springs water to local hospitals to treat patients," says Zhang.

Airports are also expected to be established in the next five years to connect the area with Zhoushan and Hengdian.

There are many celebrities at the Hengdian World Studios, and the half-hour flight will make it possible for them to visit Wuyi to relax and enjoy the hot springs after work, says Zhang.

Work on an expressway connecting downtown Jinhua city and Wuyi will begin this year, shortening travel time to 15 minutes from the previous one hour.

More than 90 percent of Spring Festival visitors chose to drive to Wuyi, says Zhang.

Besides, a group of high-end family hotels will open for business later this year.

The idea is to ultimately turn Wuyi into a backyard of major cities nearby so people can come and take a break from their busy schedules.

If you go

It takes roughly two hours by high-speed rail from Shanghai Hongqiao Station to the Wuyi North Station