Feng Lei Returns Home to Found an Eco-Farm Estate Built to Tourist Attraction Standards
"I have a dream: to turn my hometown into a huge eco-farm estate, with green mountains and clear waters, fragrant melons and fruits, beautiful and prosperous, like a hidden paradise away from the world..." said Feng Lei, a young man born in the 1980s from Lulong County, Hebei.
Feng Lei is 29 this year and a native of Zhaojuntun Village, Lulong Town. Tall and sturdy, with dark skin, he always speaks with an honest smile. Making his hometown a hidden paradise is his dream, and his hardworking hands and tenacious perseverance are the "golden keys" that open the door to that dream.
Feng Lei grew up at the foot of Fujun Mountain and holds a special affection for these mountains and waters. As he grew up, he traveled far and wide with his father doing business, which broadened his knowledge and horizons, and made him feel more and more that his hometown could also be built into something even better. "Outside, I saw many places developing rural eco-tourism projects that attracted a lot of visitors. My hometown has mountains and water and convenient transportation. If it were built into an eco-farm estate, it could both improve the environment and increase income. Wouldn't that be great?" Feng Lei explained his original intention.
Feng Lei's idea won his parents' approval and support, and they put up money for him to go all out. In 2011, through land transfer, Feng Lei contracted the Fujun Mountain hill land, nearby mountain land, and Fengjiagou Reservoir, totaling more than 230 mu, preparing to build the Fujun Mountain Ecological Agriculture Sightseeing Park. As an experiment, that year he planted more than 50 mu of spur-type Fuji apple trees and released more than 20,000 fish fry, gradually exploring planting and breeding experience. Through diligent study and repeated experiments, Feng Lei mastered the techniques of fruit tree planting and management and aquaculture, becoming an expert. In the following years, Feng Lei gradually expanded the forest and fruit area and planted apples, peaches, walnuts, large cherries, and more, bringing the forest and fruit area to 160 mu. At the same time, he built a farmhouse restaurant and also built a breeding farm, raising cattle, horses, sheep, chickens, and geese. An eco-farm estate integrating sightseeing and picking, leisure fishing, dining and entertainment, and farming experiences had begun to take shape.
Feng Lei is serious about building an eco-farm estate. He follows the trend and builds the estate using the models of organic agriculture and a circular economy. "Our crops are basically not sprayed with pesticides; if spraying is necessary, we use low-toxicity ones. Weeding is all done by hand or by letting the geese eat the weeds; fertilization also uses organic fertilizer, and we harvest according to the seasons. We absolutely do not harvest early just to get to market sooner, ensuring that agricultural products are healthy, safe, and full of their original flavor," Feng Lei explained. Their circular economy has also become a reality: planting alfalfa to feed livestock - collecting livestock manure and fermenting it into organic fertilizer - applying organic fertilizer to fruit trees and crops - fruit tree fallen leaves and crop straw becoming livestock feed again. In the entire production process there is not a bit of waste, which reduces pollution and lowers costs, and most crucially ensures the green and natural quality of agricultural products.
For 5 years, Feng Lei has spent almost every day in the fields and by the ponds, in the company of fruit trees, cattle and sheep, and fish, growing together with them. Effort always brings rewards, and Feng Lei is about to welcome the harvest season. In today's estate, Fujun Mountain stands towering and lush, with orchards forming forests at its foot, and peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, and apple blossoms competing in beauty; the east and west sides of Fengjiagou Reservoir are connected to the Qingyin Irrigation Canal, with rippling blue waves and fat fish in beautiful waters; the farmhouse dining has gotten off to a smooth start, and through word of mouth, more than 500 visits have already been made here to taste the specialties and enjoy the food, with the farthest visitors coming from Beijing and Tianjin; since the beginning of spring, visitors have come in an endless stream to enjoy the spring outing and flowers and to relax with fishing, and the Fujun Mountain Ecological Agriculture Sightseeing Park has already gained some fame nearby.
"The business has only just started, and there are still many imperfect areas. In the future, I must continue to do a good job in infrastructure construction, continue to expand the orchard area and the scale of breeding, and build a true eco-farm estate that meets tourist attraction standards." Feng Lei stated his plans for the future. Of course, the ultimate goal is still to rally the folks back home so that everyone can develop organic agriculture and build an eco-farm estate together, making their hometown richer and more beautiful!