Bo'ao, a small town on the east coast of China's island province of Hainan, has played host to the annual Boao Forum for Asia since its inception in 2001. Over the past 10 years, the quiet and unknown place has witnessed economic transformation from a fishing village to tourism town. Our reporter Shen Le has been talking to the locals there on how life has changed for them.

 

Cutting all the coconut fruits..

Mr. Huang and his wife were local farmers before they opened a grocery store five years ago. Mrs Huang says her days are much better now than when she had to plough the field under a scorching sun. Happy about the rapid development in their neighbourhood, she and her husband now make more money than before. Tourists and construction workers provide a constant customer base.

Mrs. Huang, Grocery Store Owner, said, "I like doing business with workers. They don't bargain. Tourists bargain too much. Sometimes they ask for prices lower than my inventory cost. "

Ever since the inception of Boao Forum, the town has seen an increasing number of new construction projects. Everywhere we go, new developments crop up, most being residential compounds.