Leasing 20 mu of land to grow succulents, a post-90s top graduate finds both love and career success

Body and soul, one of them must always be on the road. In this era where everyone shouts about "dreams," few people actually take action to realize their own. But there are also those who give up the bustle of the city, endure others' misunderstanding, just to fulfill their dreams.

Bao Wen, born in the 1990s, graduated from Shandong University, returned to Dali after graduation to build his own succulent garden, and now owns a 20-mu succulent garden and a 7000 sq m succulent guesthouse.

(A view of the succulent garden)

(A view of the succulent garden)

(A view of the succulent garden)

(A view of the succulent garden)

Meeting succulents, love at first sight

In my junior year I was already thinking about what to do after graduation - should I take the postgraduate entrance exam to continue my studies, or go to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to find a high-paying job? After thinking for a long time, I decided to start my own business.

This immature idea naturally met with opposition from my family, but later, I spent a year conducting research and investigation, and with my persistence, my family finally agreed.

(Dali)

But I still hadn't figured out exactly what to do. Until one time when I was accompanying a friend shopping for green plants, I was attracted by succulents at first glance, and a thought sprouted right then - why not grow succulents and do what I love!

Returning to my hometown, pruning the succulent garden

After graduation, I returned to Dali and took over an aquatic plant nursery. Because it had been abandoned for a long time, the nursery was overgrown with weeds and the buildings were dilapidated.

To be honest, in the first few months, I hadn't figured out how to deal with it. Later, looking at the empty nursery, a thought sprouted - why not just build a succulent garden right here!

The nursery was too large; just clearing the weeds took several months. My heart aches for my blistered hands.

After clearing the weeds, I began tilling the soil and digging field ridges to plant succulents one after another. The abandoned nursery turned into what you see below.

Alright, I admit it looks even more desolate...

Because I didn't have much money right after graduation, I couldn't buy too many succulents at once. I could only purchase some first, growing and selling at the same time, saving money bit by bit to build the succulent garden.

(The initial entire collection)

After the site was prepared, the formal construction of the garden's flower platforms began. To save money, all the succulent platforms in the garden were built by my own hands.

Without much money, I had to do everything myself. Every brick and stone in the garden was personally selected by me.

Having weathered the test of time, the flower platforms gradually filled out. After a year, can you still tell how simple and rough they once looked?

Friends who have grown succulents should know that the most money-consuming thing about succulents is flower pots. I also thought of many ways to solve the flower pot problem, and finally decided to use tree stumps to make succulent landscapes - both money-saving and ornamental.

Each piece of wood stump had to be polished for more than two weeks. No choice - saving money! But after planting succulents on them, I felt all the hard work was worth it!

Meeting succulents was chance, meeting her was fate

How lucky must a person be to meet someone with whom they share the same interests. Meeting my girlfriend was as accidental and dramatic as my meeting succulents.

One day I suddenly had the urge to go buy succulents, and ended up meeting her when she couldn't get a taxi by the roadside. As if possessed, I gave her a ride.

Chatting along the way, I learned she was a floral designer who loved flowers, plants, and succulents, and whose dream was to ride horses, drink wine, and travel to the ends of the earth. She had come to Dali just to travel and accompany a friend to buy succulents.

(The Cangshan Mountains are visible near the garden)

After spending time together a few times, because of shared interests and mutual attraction, she chose to give up everything in Chengdu and stay in Dali.

With you, even building a garden becomes fun

The construction work that was originally dull and boring for one person became interesting because of her joining in.

She loves floral design; the archway in the succulent garden was designed by her as a newcomer.

As her Prince Charming, my role was of course that of flower and plant carrier.

We made use of the original aquatic plant garden's terrain to dig a pond and plant lotuses.

A year later, the pond was full of lotus leaves.

The open space beside the garden path is covered with lush green pennywort.

The succulent landscapes under her guidance also became more artistic.

The biggest surprise Dali offers is that everything can be sourced locally, even the materials she uses for floral design are no exception.

Christmas wreath

Succulent wreath

She is an impatient person who wants everything solved quickly. The garden originally planned to take a year to build took only three months.

Picking things up became a daily routine

Searching everywhere for old objects to plant succulents in became something we had to do on every outing.

The clay pots we collected are casually placed on the ground, made into ground landscapes.

Even going out to buy fruit, we luckily found a toilet and decisively brought it home!

Can you find the toilet that successfully transformed in the picture below?

By chance, we discovered an abandoned wooden boat, and of course we had to use it to plant succulents too~

Is this your first time seeing a succulent wooden boat?

The succulent garden is also a world of flowers

She loves flowers and plants, so how could the succulent garden lack flowers? We planted flowers and plants in every corner of the garden.

Dianthus

Rosa

Marguerite daisy

Iris

Having a hobby become a career is one of life's great fortunes

After more than a year of construction, the succulent garden grew larger and larger in scale.

The succulent garden is right by the Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake, and it has become a must-visit place for many tourists.

(The succulent carpet and succulent wall in the guesthouse)

Watching tourists who come to the garden take photos of the succulents is my happiest thing.

In a society where the word "dream" has been said to death,

I strive to make my dream shine into reality,

The road to dreams is not easy to walk,

But step by step, it will always be realized!

I can do it, and you definitely can too!