Yanling yellow peaches became a fruit of prosperity: a college graduate returned home to plant them and led his fellow villagers out of poverty
Entrepreneur: Zhang Xiaohui
"We plan to sell 500,000 jin of Yanling yellow peaches this year. All of these peaches will be picked and shipped directly from our own orchard and from surrounding Yanling yellow peach growers, solving problems for the fruit farmers such as sales and transport. To ensure the excellent quality of Yanling yellow peaches, we often go to the growers' orchards to inspect the cultivation and management of the peaches. We firmly refuse to sell peaches from other regions passed off as genuine or good-quality goods sold as inferior. Yanling yellow peaches are famous for being fragrant, sweet and crisp; no one can resist the temptation of that sweet fragrance. Yellow peaches from other regions, by contrast, are mostly sour and crisp, bland when eaten, without a fragrant, sweet taste; they look good but are not good to eat, and their quality falls far short of Yanling yellow peaches. Authentic high-mountain Yanling yellow peaches generally start coming onto the market around mid-July each year." Zhang Xiaohui told reporters when we interviewed him recently.
Four years ago, Zhang Xiaohui, a post-80s graduate, made a surprising decision: to return home and start a business growing Yanling yellow peaches. His parents and fellow villagers did not understand it. After all, Xiaohui was one of the few college graduates in the village, and he had once had a fairly good job in a major city in the south with an annual salary of about 100,000 yuan. Suddenly returning to his home in a remote mountain area - Xiacun, Yanling, Hunan - to grow Yanling yellow peaches struck many colleagues as impulsive; to put it bluntly, somewhat foolish.
Zhang Xiaohui inspecting the yellow peaches in the orchard
Zhang Xiaohui acted as soon as he made up his mind, resolutely resigning and returning home to start his business in 2013. Xiaohui's home is in remote Changyuan Village, Xiacun Township, where the scenery is pleasant, the air clear, the spring water pristine, and which lies close to Ling Peak, the highest peak in Hunan. But this mountain village has relatively poor transport and information links. Because of the high altitude, the local rice crop yields poorly, and most young people go out to work, leaving the middle-aged and elderly at home. With a shortage of labor, large tracts of farmland fell into disuse. To make full use of the land, Zhang Xiaohui, after repeated investigations, decided to reclaim wasteland and plant Yanling yellow peaches.
"Xiacun Township in Yanling County has similar conditions of altitude, climate and soil to neighboring Pingle Township. Since Pingle Township can grow Yanling yellow peaches well, then Xiacun can certainly do it too," Zhang Xiaohui told reporters. Determined to grow Yanling yellow peaches well, Zhang Xiaohui attended many yellow peach cultivation training sessions at the county agriculture bureau and conducted on-the-spot investigations in Xiyang, Pingle, Zhongcun, Shidu and other places. During the planting period, he often exchanged cultivation techniques with experienced specialized growers, all so that he could grow Yanling yellow peaches well.
Inviting fruit farmers who have grown Yanling yellow peaches for many years to pass on their experience
In the spring of 2014, Zhang Xiaohui planted nearly 50 mu of Yanling yellow peaches. At first he had no planting experience at all, so he often rode his motorcycle back and forth to Pingle, Zhongcun, Xiyang and other places to seek advice from specialized growers. One morning, on his way to Pingle, because the mountain road was foggy, slippery and full of bends, he skidded at a sharp turn, and both he and the motorcycle fell into the ditch on the inner side of the mountain. Fortunately it was the inner side; otherwise, falling down the cliff on the outer side, the consequences would have been unimaginable. But this did not hold back his dream of starting a business.
After 3 years of careful cultivation of the yellow peach trees, the Yanling yellow peaches Zhang Xiaohui planted bore fruit and came onto the market in 2016. Thanks to proper management techniques, the Yanling yellow peaches he grew were not only large and beautiful but also exceptionally fragrant, sweet and crisp, and they sold extremely well as soon as the orchard opened. Many fruit dealers from Guangdong and Zhejiang drove over directly to compete to buy the Yanling yellow peaches Zhang Xiaohui grew. Zhang Xiaohui calculated carefully that, after deducting various costs, he earned more than 100,000 yuan that year. Although it was about the same as what he earned working in the city, only he could deeply appreciate that joy and sense of achievement, and only he could understand the hardships and sweat he put in along the way. Looking back now, he just smiled and shook his head, saying that without struggle there is no youth!
At first, when Zhang Xiaohui urged his fellow villagers to plant Yanling yellow peaches, almost no one responded. Now his fellow villagers and the surrounding poor households are all eager to ask Zhang Xiaohui for guidance. Thanks to Zhang Xiaohui's driving role, many fruit farmers in the village now grow Yanling Jinxiu yellow peaches.
Zhang Xiaohui (left) inspecting a yellow peach planting base
"In order to better open up the market and let friends from all over the country buy authentic Yanling yellow peaches, we set up Leyou E-Commerce Co., Ltd. and formed the Yanling e-commerce Hongyi Army team, selling online through multiple channels such as Taobao shops and WeChat businesses. We pick, sort and pack in the morning, ship by express in the afternoon, and the peaches reach customers in about 2-3 days. Although the yellow peaches are not on the market yet, our presales have already received orders from many new and returning customers." As Zhang Xiaohui introduced this to us, he turned on the computer to show us the customers' orders.
Fragrant, sweet yellow peaches hanging all over the branches
In recent years the country has been advocating "mass innovation and business startups by all", and more and more college graduates are choosing to return home to start businesses. It is believed that Zhang Xiaohui's entrepreneurial story, bringing us plenty of positive energy, will certainly inspire more ambitious young people to embark on the road of starting businesses and growing rich, and lead more elders and fellow villagers out of poverty toward prosperity, moving together toward a moderately prosperous life.
[Reporting and editing: Li Xiaoliang]