Barren sandy wasteland transformed into a hundred-fruit orchard; the once-desolate riverbank now brims with the fragrance of melons and fruits

On August 23, at the Jiyuanhong Picking Orchard in Jijiazhai Village, Dicun Township, Julu County, Xie Huayong was directing the workers in raising seedlings while on the phone with his father, who was also at the orchard.

"Where are you? What are you doing? It's so hot, don't let yourself get heatstroke. Come over here right now and take Mom home. In this scorching heat, what are you two fussing about?" Xie Huayong was completely helpless when it came to the old man. No matter how hot it was, if the elderly couple went even a single day without coming to the yard to walk around, take a look, and do a bit of work, they would feel restless and out of sorts.

Before long, 72-year-old Xie Zhishan came over unhurriedly, carrying a pair of shears for pruning fruit trees, gazing as he walked at this orchard steeped in half a lifetime of his blood and sweat: the jujube branches were laden with plump green pearls, the heavy pears bent the thick branches of the pear trees low, and red plums hid among the dense foliage, appearing and disappearing as the breeze blew...

No one could imagine that this hundred-fruit orchard before their eyes had once been a stretch of barren land.

This stretch of sandy wasteland east of the village rose and fell with the terrain: the higher spots were mostly sandy mounds, while the lower spots were saline-alkali soil. All year round, not a blade of grass grew. According to the village elders, for countless generations this had been waste land that paid no grain tax. After Liberation, during collectivization, it was never cultivated either and remained abandoned.

In 1985, Xie Zhishan signed a 30-year contract with the village and took on more than 100 mu of it. From that time on, father and daughter became inextricably bound to this land.

Enduring great hardships, the early days of the venture were arduous. Xie Zhishan and his family set out on a path to tame the sand and find prosperity, a path full of toil.

Tree pits, dug one by one; saplings, planted one by one; water, carried bucket by bucket; roads, built section by section; seedlings died one batch after another, and were replanted one batch after another... Xie Zhishan's family waged a protracted war against this sandy wasteland.

When a thorough soaking rain came, in order to seize the soil moisture and plant trees, Xie Zhishan would bring dry rations and work all day long. At noon he would sit in the shade of the trees, gnaw a few bites of dry food with cold boiled water, rest a little, and then keep working.

In the early years, when the apricot trees bloomed, there was often a late spring cold snap. To preserve a whole year's harvest, the whole family would come to the field at past two in the morning and light fires among the trees to make smoke. Although they wore thick cotton clothes and cotton shoes, the cold still seeped into every part of their bodies. By the time they returned home, exhausted, the sky was already bright.

Summers brought heavy rain, and worried that the fruit saplings in the low-lying areas would drown, Xie Zhishan would shoulder a shovel and wade through the water toward the field in the pouring rain. On the way, the usually shallow little river swelled dramatically, and Xie Zhishan had no choice but to swim across.

One summer, at noon in June, father and daughter finished picking two baskets of apricots and headed home. Xie Zhishan pushed the cart, and his eight- or nine-year-old daughter pushed from behind to help him. Treading through dust that covered their feet and under the scorching sun, Xie Huayong suddenly said: "Dad, I think the happiest thing in the world right now is to have a bowl of water to drink."

Besides working hard, Xie Zhishan also kept learning about fruit tree cultivation. He subscribed at his own expense to newspapers and magazines such as Hebei Science and Technology News, and sometimes even went to places like Shouguang in Shandong to consult experts in person.

When asked what kept him going, Xie Zhishan answered: "Land is neither good nor bad; land is the thing that deceives people the least. Although this place is both sandy and alkaline, through hard work, whatever it lacks, we add for it, and it can surely become an oasis."

After nearly ten years of toil by the whole family, the former sandy mounds became a lush hundred-fruit orchard: more than 2,000 apricot trees, more than 1,000 jujube trees, and fruit trees such as pears and nectarines as well.

Having worked this land alongside her father since childhood, Xie Huayong has deep feelings for it.

After graduating from school, she worked in the township for a time, but in the end she returned to this land and took up the baton from her father.

After taking over, Xie Huayong registered the "Jiyuanhong" trademark, established a professional cooperative, carried out green food certification, improved fruit quality, advanced the time to market, raised livestock under the trees, and developed ecological circular agriculture.

To change the business model and expand the scope of operations, she developed agricultural picking, shifting from picking the fruit herself and shipping it out to sell, to letting visitors experience the joy of picking for themselves. Today, the Jiyuanhong Picking Orchard has a modest reputation in the surrounding counties and cities, receiving more than 50,000 visitors a year; she also cultivates seedlings such as black goji and honeysuckle among the trees, and currently can raise more than 200,000 seedlings a year, selling to Shandong, Henan, and other regions.

Quick-witted Xie Huayong proactively adapted to the wave of e-commerce, bringing Jiyuanhong picking, seedling supply, and fruit sales all online. "Our apricots, pears, jujubes, and other fruits are sold through the internet all over the country," Xie Huayong said. During this June's apricot festival, she sold more than 30,000 jin of fresh apricots through the internet alone.

Father and daughter also have their minor clashes. Young people pursue high efficiency and low cost: for the weeds under the trees, Xie Huayong generally just sprays herbicide and be done with it; for dead branches and fallen leaves, she gives them away as fuel. Her father Xie Zhishan, however, insists on digging pits and burying the hoed weeds and dead branches and leaves deep in the ground, sprinkling on special biological agents bought online, and fermenting them into organic fertilizer.

The old man's reasoning is sound: "The land has given us so much; we should in turn cherish the land. If we take the easy way out now and use herbicides, we pollute the land. Decades from now, a hundred years from now, what will our descendants eat?"

Although they differ slightly on the details, both generations, father and daughter, are optimistic about the future of "Jiyuanhong," and want to build it into a modern leisure picking orchard integrating picking, sightseeing, dining, amusement, and lodging.