Yang Yuangang, an impoverished household in Pengshui County, Chongqing, escapes poverty by raising pigs

Yang Yuangang is an impoverished household in Maling Village, Shuanglong Township, Pengshui County, Chongqing. His family of 4 fell into poverty because of illness. Under the guidance and help of the local government, Yang Yuangang changed his approach and developed a pig farming business. After overcoming one difficulty after another, the couple finally embarked on the road to escaping poverty and becoming prosperous through their own hardworking hands.

Stepping into Yang Yuangang's pig farm, there are lively little piglets as well as big fat pigs, plump and strong and about to be sent to market. Yang Yuangang said the farm now has more than 50 pigs on hand. This year the pig market has been fairly good, with the pig price staying at 10 yuan per jin. By this calculation, this year's net profit will reach more than 100,000 yuan, which not only allows him to escape poverty but has also made him a local model of prosperity.

Going from poverty to prosperity is not just a single step away. Yang Yuangang said that "diligence" is his magic weapon for escaping poverty and becoming prosperous. In 2012, when Yang Yuangang and his wife were both approaching 50, the family mainly lived by farming. Because their child was sick and taking medicine all year round, Yang Yuangang had to work harder than others, even planting more grain than others. In order to increase income, Yang Yuangang had to go out to work during the day and still plough the fields at night by flashlight when he returned home.

Recalling those difficult days, Yang Yuangang's face was full of worry. As he grew older, he gradually could not keep up with days of labor that went on regardless of day or night.

In 2012, Yang Yuangang discussed it with his wife and decided to raise pigs. Everything is hard at the beginning. Yang Yuangang and his wife held the only 20,000 yuan they had and did not know how to start.

To save costs, the couple decided to build the pens themselves. "We built the pens brick by brick and tile by tile. Every brick was made by ourselves with cement and sand." In this way, the couple spent a whole year before finally completing all the pig pens.

In the first year or two, the pig market was not very good. The pens they had worked so hard to build did not bring them any benefit and even made the whole family more strapped for cash. "Dozens of pigs have to eat every day. The grain we grew ourselves was far from enough, and we still had to spend money to buy grain. At that time, selling one pig after raising it to market weight was not even enough to cover the cost."

They kept going until 2015, when the pig market gradually improved and they began to make a profit. This year, Yang Yuangang welcomed his first bumper year. The farm gradually got on track, and nearby farmers also came to "learn from experience." Yang Yuangang did not hesitate to teach them. Driven by his example, Tang Hua, a villager from Group 3 of Maling Village, also built a farm this year, with 120 pigs on hand.