Maker Chen Jizhu: The biggest maker space is in the countryside
During the "October 1st" Golden Week, Yaobazhuang Village in Yahongqiao Town, Yutian County received tens of thousands of tourists from Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan.
Tourists dug up radishes and sweet potatoes in the Hongde Ecological Park, and exercised and played in the water park, swimming pool and gymnasium. When tired, they enjoyed a farm meal and stayed overnight in a farmhouse, reluctant to leave.
Yaobazhuang, once dirty and messy, is now a National AA-level tourist attraction. The villagers say: the greatest credit must go to Chen Jizhu.
Born in 1978, Chen Jizhu has been in business and understands management. He is a locally well-known expert at getting rich. In 2012, he returned to his hometown to serve as village Party branch secretary and village committee director.
"Why can't farmers be 'makers'? I think the biggest maker space is in the countryside." Chen Jizhu is bold in thinking and action. He established cooperatives and companies, transferred more than 1,000 mu of land in the whole village for unified management and operation. He formulated an overall village plan, building protected vegetable areas, fruit and vegetable picking areas, farmhouse dining areas, leisure sports areas, leisure elderly care areas...
??"The cause of rural 'makers' is to enrich the people"
Reporter: When people mention "makers," they always think of technicians tinkering with drones or 3D printers in "garage cafes" or "innovation workshops," quite far removed from the fields.
Chen Jizhu: Every industry needs "makers." In the context of innovation-driven agricultural modernization, rural areas also need the "maker" spirit.
Just guarding the small plot in front of you and relying on a one-household-one-plot planting model makes it very difficult for farmers to get rich. In closed and conservative rural areas, especially in northern rural areas, there is a greater need to introduce new concepts and ideas. To build a new countryside and develop modern agriculture, the cause of rural "makers" is to enrich the people.
Reporter: After successful entrepreneurship, why return home to start a business a second time?
Chen Jizhu: I personally started my business in 1996, doing a lighting business, riding a tricycle to deliver goods to customers door to door. Relying on integrity, sales gradually opened up, and step by step I created my own company - Hengfa Lighting Company. In recent years, the company's business has been good and it is locally well-known. Now I am rich personally, but most of my relatives and friends are still in the village. They scratch a living from their small plots, and some go out to work, but their lives have not become rich.
I grew up in the countryside eating meals from many households, and my family's conditions were especially hard. Now that I have money, I want to repay my fellow villagers. I just want to use my own efforts to help everyone get rich together.
Building a new countryside where "people can remember their nostalgia"
Reporter: To "create" a new village, where do you start?
Chen Jizhu: Start by improving the village's appearance and environment. When many people think of rural areas, they think of dirty and messy conditions. A village official once told me on a rainy day: don't go to the village today, once you enter the village you can't move your feet, it's all mud.
So the first thing I did when I returned to the village was build roads. What to do without money? I was the first to donate, and mobilized members of the village "two committees," Party member representatives and villager representatives to donate. Villagers across the village also donated enthusiastically, and in just a few days 230,000 yuan was donated.
Flat and clean concrete roads pass by every household's door, with flowers, grasses and trees planted on both sides. The villagers were all happy in their hearts. Later work became easier to handle. Mobilizing every household to clean up garbage, renovate toilets and treat sewage was all done very actively. Once the village environment improved, people's mental outlook clearly changed, and their drive for development was also stronger.
Reporter: What is different about "opening a company" in the village?
Chen Jizhu: There definitely must be a new model. The basic idea for Yaobazhuang's development is to take a path in which rural resources support enterprise development, and enterprise development results boost beautiful countryside construction, with mutual assistance and complementarity between village and enterprise.
Reporter: What kind of village do you want to "create"?
Chen Jizhu: In some villages now, farmers have all moved into buildings. It's good, but I always feel something is missing, and that is "nostalgia." The new countryside I want to create must first have a beautiful environment; second, farmers still live in single-story houses with courtyards; and there must also be the healthiest food. City people can come here to get close to nature and experience an authentic countryside.
Reporter: What are your plans for the next step?
Chen Jizhu: Next, our goal is to upgrade the village's Hongde Ecological Park from AA to a National AAA-level tourist attraction. Through tourism, we will drive sales of our specialty agricultural products, such as Hongde black peanuts and millet, and build our own brand. At the same time, we also plan to build a high-standard ecological elderly care base.
Xue Huijuan, reporter for Hebei Daily