STORY: An Austrian's English class in rural China
SHOOTING TIME: June 13, 2024
DATELINE: June 17, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:15
LOCATION: HUANGSHAN, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Hongcun Village, Yixian County
2. various of Schober teaching English
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ARMIN SCHOBER, Restaurant owner in Hongcun
4. various of Schober teaching English and his students learning English
5. various of Yixian County
6. various of Schober teaching English and his students learning English
7. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ARMIN SCHOBER and his students

STORYLINE:

Known for its picturesque scenery, Hongcun Village is a magnet for painters and photographers. It was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.

Austrian Armin Schober owns a coffee and pizza shop with his wife in the village.

As more foreign tourists flood in, more locals are willing to learn English. Schober thus opened free English classes for them.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ARMIN SCHOBER, Restaurant owner in Hongcun
"I'm Armin. I'm originally from Austria. And I've been living in Hongcun for the last three years. Being surrounded by this beautiful scenery, I'm pretty sure a lot of our foreign friends would fall in love with Hongcun and Yixian. Many friends ask us, they want to be more confident and bold in their communication with our foreign friends. And that's what we're gonna attempt to do today. So let's go and meet the volunteers of Hongcun."

Yixian County has been developing tourism in its pursuit of rural revitalization.

During this year's three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday that ended on June 10, Yixian received nearly 305,000 tourists, including many from abroad.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ARMIN SCHOBER and his students
"This is the village from the paintings, Hongcun."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Huangshan, China.
(XHTV)