Raising Snakes Blazes a Path to Wealth, Driving Neighboring Villagers to Increase Income Together
Stepping into the deep concrete house, inside a pitch-black room, lifting the quilt, a pitch-black cobra glares with wide eyes and flicks its tongue at the visitor. Seeing this, many people would immediately break out in cold sweat. Unlike those who turn pale at the mention of "snakes," Tu Dezhi "dances with snakes" every day. From snake eggs to hatching baby snakes, and then to the little snakes growing bit by bit, he tends to them with meticulous care. The snake-farming business has not only earned him generous returns, but also driven many surrounding farming households to prosperity.
Learning the Trade from the "Snake King"
Tu Dezhi is 38 years old this year and a native of Tiansi Village, Tianzhushan Town, Qianshan County. Over the years, he has moved through multiple industries: selling barbecue earned him his first pot of gold in life, making him a somewhat famous "entrepreneurship expert"; during his time running a Chinese medicinal herbs business, he came across a snake meat cooking competition and resolutely decided to switch to snake farming, and he has been at it for 6 years now.
At that time, while dealing in Chinese medicinal herbs, Tu Dezhi often traveled to Guangxi, and happened to catch a grand snake meat cooking competition held locally. The delicious flavors and rich cooking techniques opened his eyes wide: "So snake meat can be prepared in so many ways." Amid his amazement, he developed a strong interest in snake farming.
People in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces are known far and wide for loving to eat snake, and a massive industry has formed locally. In Qianshan, this trade was still a blank space, and Tu Dezhi wanted to bring this industry in. At that snake feast, Tu Dezhi had the good fortune to meet the "Snake King" of Lingshan, Guangxi - Xie Shangkui - and became his apprentice to learn the craft. After several months of training, he finally completed his studies and set out on his own.
Experimenting with Greenhouse Snake Farming
Tiansi Village is located on the southeast side of Tianzhushan Town, Qianshan County, about 4 km from the main scenic area of Tianzhushan. Recently, led by staff from Qianshan Rural Commercial Bank, the reporter arrived at Tiansi Village. Tu Dezhi's snake farming base stands on a hill within the village. The base is a row of concrete houses, and the large characters "Vigorously develop artificial snake farming, drive mountain-area farmers to start businesses" are prominently visible.
Opening the iron gate, the reporter walked into the dim corridor, with rows of small compartments on both sides housing different species of snakes. "There are five kinds of snakes here. The most venomous are the cobras. They fear light and cold, so on days like this they are all covered with quilts." Tu Dezhi opened a door, and under the quilt several cobras twisted their bodies, glaring with wide eyes to "greet" the uninvited guest.
Inside the base, a row of plastic greenhouses caught everyone's attention. Tu Dezhi told the reporter that he is currently experimenting with greenhouse snake farming, controlling the temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse in hopes of achieving the same living environment as the concrete snake house. If the experiment succeeds, it will greatly reduce construction costs and help promote snake farming to surrounding farmers.
He explained that promoting snake farming requires large construction cost investments, and building snake houses also requires approval from relevant departments. If the greenhouse farming experiment succeeds, it will not only save the approval process but also cut investment costs in half, which will drive more farmers to join the cooperative. According to reports, Tu Dezhi currently raises more than 5,000 snakes, which on average can bring in nearly one million yuan in benefits each year, and he has also brought 5 surrounding farming households into the fold.
Developing Deep Processing of Snake Meat
Tu Dezhi told the reporter that the meat snakes he raises are mainly sold to other places, and the local market has never been opened up. On one hand, this is because locals have not yet formed the habit of eating snake meat; on the other hand, many people fear snakes and dare not easily process them.
After several years of market promotion, some nearby rural leisure restaurants have now introduced this dish, but in Tu Dezhi's view, this is far from enough. He plans to build a snake meat processing plant to make "Dragon and Phoenix Soup," bringing processed delicious snake soup and snake meat to local people's dining tables.
"With joint guarantee loans from several farming households, I borrowed 200,000 from Qianshan Rural Commercial Bank, providing sufficient funds for the next step of deep processing of snake meat," Tu Dezhi said. Within the more than 100 mu base, Tu Dezhi has an even more "magnificent" plan: taking advantage of being adjacent to Tianzhushan, he intends to build a snake-themed sightseeing ecological park. When tourists come here, they can not only visit the snake farming base and snake meat processing area, but also go fishing, pick tea, and taste the uniquely flavored "Dragon and Phoenix Soup."
"As long as you operate well and drive impoverished households to employment and entrepreneurship, our bank can increase funding to help you continue to grow bigger and stronger," the account manager of the Tianzhushan Branch of Qianshan Rural Commercial Bank promised before departure.