Pingdu's "Blueberry Sister" receives special government allowance from the State Council
"Deputy Chief Engineer" and "expert receiving special government allowance from the State Council" - if it were not for the interview with Tian Sufeng, it would be hard for a reporter to associate these labels with the woman before them, wearing a sun hat and sportswear, who had just rushed back from the blueberry field. With more than 10 invention patents in polymer materials, she could have gone further on the path of scientific research, but in 2013 she returned to her hometown to start a business and founded Qingdao Wofengyuan Modern Agriculture Co., Ltd.
Tian Sufeng, who came from Huibu Town in Pingdu City, has a deep affection for the land. "After working away from home for so many years, whenever I had the chance I would go back and walk in the fields, feel the smell of the soil, and have the warm feeling of reuniting with old friends. So after retirement I wanted to return to the yellow earth and do something." This was how Tian Sufeng answered the reporter's question.
Tian Sufeng originally just wanted to rent a piece of land and revisit the memory of harvesting from farming as a child. But her long-standing rigorous scientific habits made her determined: "If I am going to play, I have to do it well!" So Tian Sufeng began conducting project surveys across Qingdao. By a stroke of fate, she met her current two partners and also became acquainted with "blueberries."
It took only 3 months from first learning about it to making the final decision, and like-minded people reached a consensus, determined to build the largest modern facility agriculture demonstration base in the Jiaodong Peninsula for producing and selling high-quality blueberries. Blueberries taste sweet and sour, are rich in nutrients, and have a good market. However, growing blueberries is not easy. Their growth has special soil requirements, and weakly acidic soil with a pH value between 4.5 and 5.5 is most suitable. This posed a major problem for Tian Sufeng. She took experts to many places to test the soil, but all of it was unsuitable alkaline soil. Later, with the help of the Agriculture Bureau's soil survey map, she finally found a patch of acidic soil with a pH value of around 5.5 at the foot of Sanhe Mountain in Mingcun Town, Pingdu City.
This did not make Tian Sufeng happy for long. First, this land was at the foot of the mountain, thin mountain land with uneven terrain, and leveling the land took a great deal of effort. Second, when the land was signed for, the corn was growing tall. Only after the corn was cut down was a cemetery seen inside, and if one was not careful while walking, one could fall into a grave pit, and the matter of relocating the graves also caused her a great deal of trouble.
After finally completing the land leveling, the greenhouses were built and the trees were planted, but when they drilled a well, no water came out. Being unable to solve the water problem meant all previous efforts would be wasted! But the shortage of water at the foot of Sanhe Mountain was not a matter of a day or two. For generations, people had been unable to drill wells there, and once drilling reached the sand and gravel layer, it was prone to collapse. Anxious, she looked everywhere for well-drilling professionals to ask for advice and learn from their experience.
Hard work pays off. She finally found a drilling team in Jimo City, Qingdao, with excellent professional technology, and using advanced drilling techniques, it took half a month to finally bring out water.
After overcoming the initial difficulties, the park gradually got on track. From 2014 to 2016, Tian Sufeng further increased land transfer efforts, adding 40 spring-warm blueberry greenhouses and 200 mu of open-field blueberries, and introduced and trial-planted 200 mu of Japanese Qiuyue pears, 50 mu of hardy kiwifruit, 300 mu of Yingshuanghong peaches, and some high-end fruits such as "Red Love" red-fleshed apples. This made Wofengyuan a "hundred-fruit orchard." Various fruits were rationally planted according to their growth periods, extending the time for sightseeing and picking tours, and it received more than 100,000 visitors for two consecutive years. It successively won titles such as Qingdao characteristic agricultural tourism demonstration site, Qingdao premium picking garden, and Shandong Province agricultural tourism demonstration site.
Although she has been busy with the park's development and growth in recent years, Tian Sufeng has not forgotten her original intention of giving back to her fellow villagers. Wofengyuan Industrial Park gives priority to hiring poor people and landless farmers, and by using the park's technological radiating effect, it has driven surrounding villages to develop more than 200 mu of blueberries and more than 150 mu of hardy kiwifruit, helping villagers in 7 surrounding villages find employment and helping poor households escape poverty. Having gone out from the countryside and then returned to the countryside, today's Tian Sufeng has given this land greater vitality in return.