Plant trees on the high mountains, plant paulownias on the low ridges; a cattle dealer deep in the mountains lives off the mountain and finds his way to prosperity

Dade Mountain, Hengling Mountain, Guohu Pond, Paotong Pond. Mountain faces mountain, pond joins pond. This is the highest peak south of the Fu River in Yangxin County, at an elevation of more than 750 m. On April 16, a reporter accompanied the poverty alleviation task force of the Yangxin County Party Committee Publicity Department to Wuhe Village, Fenglin Town, to visit impoverished households.

Wuhe Village has 2 impoverished households living in the Hengling Mountain group. The newly built winding mountain road twists and turns toward the group's 4 natural hamlets. At Paotong Pond hamlet, the reporter met group leader Qi Qiqian. Sturdy, with calluses on both hands, he was shaving bamboo to make woven bamboo goods.

This natural hamlet called "Paotong Pond" has more than a dozen gray-brick tile-roofed houses. Besides Qi Qiqian, who was working, there was an old man in his eighties. Looking into the distance toward the higher mountaintop, one sees a lush forest of Chinese fir; paulownia trees grow all around the houses, and there is no one else in the hamlet.

According to Qi Qiqian, most villagers go out to work, and the elderly have also gone down the mountain to rely on relatives and friends while taking their children to school. Not a single person remains in the Heyeping group at the foot of the mountain, which is called an "empty-nest natural hamlet." The Hengling Mountain group has 7 left-behind elderly people and 6 young and middle-aged laborers; the rest have gone out to work or do business.

Qi Qiqian is a cattle trader, which local villagers call a "cattle dealer." He buys and sells cattle, driving beef cattle toward a moderately prosperous life. By trading cattle, he moved from the mountain to the foot of the mountain and even bought a house in nearby Mugang Town. "Making money just by trading cattle no longer works. We must raise cattle; only by raising cattle can we get rich. The mountain is full of ways to make money. Planting trees and growing flowers can both bring wealth..." Qi Qiqian talked on and on while making woven bamboo goods.

Starting in 2012, Qi Qiqian went up the mountain to raise cattle, taking advantage of Hengling Mountain's rich pasture to graze beef cattle. Because the villagers all went out to work or do business, no one planted crops; the beef cattle roamed all over the mountain and grew plump and strong. From this alone, Qi Qiqian earned a net income of more than 20,000 yuan each year. His family now raises 60 cattle and plans to add 6 more in the autumn of this year.

In addition, in the spring of 2013 Qi Qiqian planted Chinese fir on Hengling Mountain, more than 10,000 saplings each year, and by now the total has reached 46,000. When planting trees this year, he and his wife led their son and daughter-in-law up the mountain as a family, digging pits and moving seedlings, banking soil and planting trees, working for a full half month, rain or shine, adding a patch of new green to the barren Hengling Mountain. "Plant trees on the high mountains, plant paulownias on the low ridges. Get rich by relying on the mountain, and you will never be poor." Qi Qiqian expressed his development approach. Through 3 years of effort, he has planted more than 3,600 paulownia trees. These paulownias, full of vigor, stand like rows of sentinels guarding this ancient small mountain village.

Former group leader Qi Changgui is also a specialized cattle raiser and now has more than 50 beef cattle. He admires Qi Qiqian: "From trading cattle to raising cattle, from raising cattle alone to raising cattle and planting trees for afforestation, this path was the right one."

He Xiuhe, Party branch secretary of Wuhe Village, said that Qi Qiqian has spurred villagers to plant trees and make the village green, and last winter and this spring the whole village added more than 1,100 mu of green area.