Returning Home to Become a Leisure Farm Owner, Zhang Deming Realizes His Dream of Entrepreneurship and Prosperity

In Fangshui Township, Jiangyou City, Sichuan, there is a young man born in the 1980s named Zhang Deming, who gave up city life, returned to his hometown to set up a farm, grow fruit and open a farmstay, 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 to succeed in anything, one 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 had an entrepreneurial dream deep in his heart. After enduring painful, bewildering and struggling experiences such as spending a night in a subway station with not a penny to his name, and starting over again after business failure, 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 attending training and visiting the current state of agricultural development in advanced coastal regions, Zhang Deming realized that modern leisure agriculture was a thriving emerging industry. The traditional farming methods of his parents' generation could no longer adapt to modern lifestyles; agriculture needed to take the path of modernized, large-scale operation.

Afterwards, through in-depth investigation and research and visits to many places, 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 taken shape on a certain scale, with relatively mature development models, market operations and cultivation techniques, and an endless stream of tourists coming every year to pick fruit and experience rural tourism, so riding on this momentum was indeed a good approach.

Hard Work Brings Rich Rewards

In March 2014, with strong support from the local government and encouragement from relatives and friends, Zhang Deming founded Jiangyou Qinglang Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., mainly engaging in rural sightseeing, tourism and leisure and other businesses.

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 returns are slow. Under enormous financial pressure and the doubtful gaze of others, Zhang Deming moved his "home" to the farm. He got up at just past 4 a.m. every day to "patrol" the more than 200 mu of contracted land and check the growth of the fruit and the conditions of pests and diseases. Besides paying attention to the fruit's growth, Zhang Deming also stayed at the construction site all day, buying materials, ensuring quality and urging progress. Before long he became both 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 "desperado" spirit that Zhang Deming completed the first phase of Qinglang ahead of schedule, allowing the farm to open just as the fruit was ripening. While studying fruit cultivation, Zhang Deming humbly learned from nearby farmstays with better returns, constantly improving his management level and expanding the farm's influence.

Hard work has brought rich rewards. At present, the farm's various businesses are operating well and developing prosperously. Zhang Deming has 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 another 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 of diverse forms and rich content, optimize internal management models, raise the enthusiasm of staff, and create a warm operating and service atmosphere.

Today, Zhang Deming has become a leader in entrepreneurship and prosperity among rural youth, and Zhang Deming and his entrepreneurial story have also become a hot topic of casual conversation in Fangshui. "Entrepreneurship is a process of pain and happiness; it requires the quality of enduring hardship, an indomitable spirit and ever-undimmed 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 endeavor to make the company a benchmark for modern leisure agriculture in Jiangyou.