Who Are the "Sweet Brokers" of Turpan?

On May 11, in Grape Valley of Turpan, Hasan Ismail and his business partner Kadir drove along the paths through the woods to buy mulberries from farming households.

On May 11, in Grape Valley of Turpan, a mulberry grower picks mulberries.

On May 11, in Grape Valley of Turpan, Hasan Ismail gets ready to take out money to pay a mulberry grower.

Hasan Ismail, who lives in Grape Valley of Turpan, is 50 years old this year and began working as a professional rural broker in 2005. Since the main agricultural products of Turpan are grapes and mulberries, people like him are also called "sweet brokers." Since 2013, the mulberry orchards in Gaochang District of Turpan have totaled more than 13,000 mu, with more than 540,000 mulberry trees. From the lanes and fields to the streets and alleys of the city, mulberries all depend on brokers going to farming households to buy them. In Grape Valley alone, there are 6 groups of brokers like Hasan Ismail, and the mulberry-buying footprint of these brokers covers more than 70 percent of the 529 farming households in the Baiximaili community of Grape Valley Street. Hasan Ismail's group alone can buy as many as 3,000 baskets of mulberries from villagers in a single day at the most. Together, the 6 groups of brokers can bring an average of 50,000 yuan in income to the villagers of Grape Valley every day. Xinhua News Agency release (photo by Hu Huhu)