Zhang Deming: A Leisure "Farm Owner" Returns Home and Forges a Path to Prosperity
In Fangshui Township, there is a young man born in the 1980s named Zhang Deming, who gave up city life, returned home to set up a farm, grow fruit, and open a rural agritainment business, embarking on the path of modern leisure agriculture development. Recalling the difficult years of starting his business, Zhang Deming said: "That was the most precious wealth of my life, because I gained rich market experience and learned that if you want to succeed, you must be indomitable."
Determined to Develop Leisure Agriculture
In 1987, Zhang Deming was born into a farming family in Gushu Village, Fangshui Township. After graduating from junior high school, he went to work in Shanghai, **, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang, and other places.
Like many people striving away from home, Zhang Deming also harbored a dream of entrepreneurship deep in his heart. After enduring painful, bewildering, and struggling experiences such as spending nights in the subway with no money and starting over after business failures, he managed, through hard work, to dig up his first pot of gold in Chengdu. At that moment, he did not anticipate that an even greater challenge was about to come.
In 2013, after training and study, and after visiting the current state of agricultural development in advanced coastal regions, Zhang Deming realized that modern leisure agriculture is a vibrant emerging industry. The traditional farming methods of the older generation could no longer adapt to the modern way of life; agriculture needed to take the path of modernized, large-scale operation.
Afterward, through in-depth investigation and research and inspections from multiple sources, Zhang Deming found that leisure agriculture in Jiangyou started early, developed quickly, and had a solid foundation, with broad market prospects and considerable room for improvement. Meanwhile, the fruit-growing industry in Fangshui Township had already formed a certain scale, with relatively mature development models, market operations, and planting techniques. Every year, an endless stream of visitors came to pick fruit and experience rural tourism, so leveraging this momentum was a good approach.
Hard Work Brings Rich Returns
In March 2014, with strong support from the local government and encouragement from family and friends, Zhang Deming founded Jiangyou Qinglang Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., mainly engaging in rural sightseeing, tourism and leisure, and other businesses.
In order to run the company well, Zhang Deming invested more than 5.5 million yuan, rented more than 220 mu of idle land from local farmers, and planted more than 80 mu of grapes, more than 60 mu of peaches, and more than 40 mu of loquats and strawberries. At the same time, to support tourism development, Zhang Deming also built a tourist reception center covering more than 40 mu and supporting facilities for leisure and entertainment.
Agricultural industry investment is large and results are slow to appear. Under enormous financial pressure and the doubtful gaze of many people, Zhang Deming moved his "home" to the farm. He got up every morning at just past 4 o'clock and "patrolled" the more than 200 mu of contracted land to check the growth of the fruit and the conditions of pests and diseases. In addition to paying attention to fruit growth, Zhang Deming also stayed at the construction site all day, buying materials, ensuring quality, and urging progress. Before long, he became dark and thin, and even the construction workers could not help saying: "We've never seen such a serious boss."
It was precisely with this "workaholic" spirit that Zhang Deming completed the first phase of Qinglang ahead of schedule, allowing the farm to open just as the fruit harvest arrived. While studying fruit cultivation, Zhang Deming humbly learned from nearby agritainment businesses with better returns, continuously improving his management level and expanding the farm's influence.
Hard work brought rich returns. At present, the farm's various business operations are doing well, and its development is thriving. Zhang Deming not only achieved self-employment but also provided more than 60 jobs for society, achieving a double harvest of economic and social benefits.
Aiming to Build a Benchmark for Leisure Agriculture
In order to drive more farmers into employment and realize his dream of modern leisure agriculture, Zhang Deming plans to spend five years of effort and invest more than 20 million yuan, add more than 600 mu of transferred land, further integrate resources at all local levels, open up business ideas, carry out leisure projects in diverse forms and with rich content, optimize the internal management model, raise the enthusiasm of staff, and create a warm operating and service atmosphere.
Today, Zhang Deming has become a leader among rural youth in starting businesses and achieving prosperity, and Zhang Deming and his entrepreneurial story have also become a hot topic of conversation in Fangshui. "Entrepreneurship is a process of pain and happiness; entrepreneurship requires the qualities of enduring hardship, an indomitable spirit, and inextinguishable passion. In an era of information explosion, starting a business is not easy, and maintaining it is even harder. Only by continuously strengthening learning can one remain advanced forever." Zhang Deming said he will actively cooperate with people from all walks of life, strive to build the Qinglang leisure agriculture sightseeing brand, and strive to build the company into a benchmark for modern leisure agriculture in Jiangyou.