Zhang Xinkui leads ethnic minority people to get rich by keeping bees, promoting exchanges, interactions and integration

Zhang Xinkui is the chairman of the Aksu Misimi Beekeeping Farmers' Professional Cooperative. In five or six years, he has led nearly 400 ethnic minority beekeepers out of poverty and toward prosperity, becoming the leader in uniting and getting rich in the region's beekeeping industry.

On June 22, at a jujube orchard in Yiganqi Village, Yiganqi Township, Aksu City, Maimaiti Tuxun, a member of the Aksu Misimi Beekeeping Farmers' Professional Cooperative, told reporters that he began keeping bees with Zhang Xinkui 6 years ago. Under his mentor's careful guidance, he went from knowing nothing about beekeeping to keeping bees independently. Now he has more than 100 hives, has a stable income, and has also become a technician in the cooperative, guiding other members in beekeeping.

"Look! This board of honeycomb has 5 kg." Maimaiti Tuxun took out a board of honeycomb from a beehive beside the jujube tree and told reporters that one board of honeycomb can produce at least 2.5 kg of honey, and one beehive can hold five boards of honeycomb.

Maimaiti Tuxun said his family lives in Kalatale Town, Aksu City, and has 6 people. Before he went out to keep bees, the whole family's annual income was less than 8,000 yuan. Although going out to keep bees is a bit harder, learning a skill brings a stable income, and the income rises year after year. Many members in the cooperative had the same idea as him and therefore learned beekeeping from Master Zhang Xinkui. Now 85% of the cooperative's members are ethnic minority farmers from various counties (cities).

"I not only learned beekeeping skills, but also learned how to manage my life." Tuxun Aimaiti from Ayikule Town, Aksu City, said with emotion that after learning beekeeping from Zhang Xinkui for many years, his skills have become more solid year after year, and his income has risen accordingly. Last year, his beekeeping income reached more than 100,000 yuan. In particular, after living next to each other for many years, he saw how Zhang Xinkui's family practiced thrift and managed their household, and their days became more and more prosperous. He kept this in mind. Although his income was higher, he did not spend money extravagantly and without restraint as before. Instead, he learned to save money and manage his life, adding only necessities at home. The idea of keeping up with others in consumption was gone, so the number in his passbook grew year by year.

Remutili Aihemaiti from Ying'awati Township, Wushi County, told reporters that many members of the cooperative need to move to other places inland to keep bees, and when they lack travel expenses or living expenses, whether 10,000 or 20,000, Zhang Xinkui helps without hesitation. No matter who borrows money, he never requires an IOU, and Zhang Xinkui never presses for repayment. The loans he knows about alone exceed 200,000 yuan.

"He does not treat us as outsiders, so naturally we do not treat him as an outsider either." Remutili Aihemaiti said that although the cooperative's members are usually scattered while keeping bees, whenever they have a chance to get together, everyone is especially happy. Every year during Corban Festival and Roz Festival, Zhang Xinkui is invited to visit cooperative members' homes, while during Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, members who can return to Aksu also go to Zhang Xinkui's home to pay New Year calls and celebrate the festivals.

"No matter where I go, I feel that Han and ethnic minority people are one family." Tuxun Aimaiti, who once moved to Yunnan Province to keep bees, said with deep feeling as he recalled his time inland.

It is understood that Zhang Xinkui is 37 years old this year. His father began keeping bees in southern Xinjiang after going to Xinjiang to support the border regions in 1956, and trained a large number of ethnic minority people in beekeeping. After nearly 60 years of development by two generations, father and son, there are currently more than 200 beekeeping bases across the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. Because most of the bee products produced are purchased by large inland bee industry companies, the economic benefits are not very ideal. Zhang Xinkui therefore established his own beekeeping enterprise in July 2011, and in 2013 established the Aksu Misimi Beekeeping Farmers' Professional Cooperative.

□Our reporter Jiang Xiaojun, correspondent Han Ji

WeChat editor: Chang Lingling