Dong Anning, a Major Winter Flower (Tussilago farfara) Trader: The Arduous Journey of Starting Out as a Small Herbal Medicine Vendor

Dong Anning is an ordinary farmer from Guanzi Town, Qinzhou District, Tianshui City. His family was poor since childhood, and he had to drop out of school when he fell ill in junior high. Before he was even twenty, he had shouldered the burden of life. To purchase Chinese medicinal herbs, he once walked dozens of kilometers on foot every day, climbing mountains and wading through rivers, and experienced many failures. A chance occurrence suddenly gave him the idea of "turning wild winter flowers into cultivated ones," and he began guiding villagers to plant winter flowers on a large scale. For nearly a decade, the cultivation of Chinese medicinal herbs, mainly winter flowers, has become one of the pillar industries of Guanzi Town. Many farmers have embarked on the path of specialty planting and prospered, and Dong Anning, through years of relentless exploration, has finally brought Guanzi Town's winter flowers out of Gansu and across the country.

The Hardships and Joys of Starting Out

Recently, a reporter went to Guanzi Town to interview about last year's winter flower harvest and market conditions. When the town government staff brought us to an old grain station not far away, rows of large boxes were neatly stacked in the warehouse. After opening a box of winter flowers ready for loading, the reporter saw that each unopened flower bud was brightly colored and in perfect condition.

In this temporary workshop, Dong Anning walked the reporter through the process, explaining as he went: "Winter flowers must be purchased while still moist. First they need to be sorted, then sun-dried, then roasted. Each day of sun-drying makes the color a bit darker. When roasting, you must control the heat carefully, otherwise if the appearance changes, you won't get a good price." As someone who has been engaged in Chinese medicinal herb processing for thirty years, he spoke with great expertise.

However, when it came to the difficult entrepreneurial process back then, although decades had passed, his voice still choked up with emotion. When Dong Anning was young, his family was poor. With nothing but a spirit of adventure, he learned lessons from one failure after another. "Back then, I often walked dozens of li to buy herbs. I didn't even have a bicycle, relying entirely on my two legs, and I had to carry the herbs I bought back on my back. After a whole day, my back would go numb. But for survival, there was no choice. Every other day, I had to make that trip. When it rained, I'd stumble and crawl along. I had no money and couldn't bear to spend it on a ride..." Recalling those hardships, Dong Anning said it was that perseverance and spirit of enduring hardship that kept him going.

First Encounter with Winter Flowers

Speaking of how he first got involved with winter flowers, Dong Anning told the reporter that wild winter flowers had actually existed in Guanzi Town for a long time, and he often purchased ones dug up by farmers, but the quantity was small and the processing was rough, so they couldn't fetch a good price. "One year, an elderly herb trader from the town brought back a truckload of winter flowers from elsewhere, and the price was very high at the time. This inspired me. Since others can grow them, we can too. So I mobilized everyone to plant them ourselves. At first the planting area was small, but after a successful trial planting in Liujiagou Village, the scale of cultivation grew larger and larger."

According to introductions, the main production areas of winter flowers used to be Hebei and Hubei, but since Guanzi Town's climate and soil are both quite suitable, the winter flowers' appearance and color are better looking, and the medicinal component content is also higher than other places. Therefore, in recent years, Guanzi Town's winter flowers have established their own brand, and during peak trading season, vendors from different provinces come to purchase.

Expanding in New Directions

At first, he worried about not being able to buy herbs, but once the business reached a small scale, Dong Anning began pondering how to expand sales channels.

"Before, I always stayed in Guanzi Town, and the trading was mainly local varieties. A few herb buyers often went to Guangzhou, and I supplied them. Once I asked one of them on the phone whether he could take me along when going to Guangzhou, but he just hung up on me." With no other option, Dong Anning had to go to Guangzhou himself. After much trouble, he finally found the Guangzhou Qingping Chinese Medicinal Herbs Market, and then he went to Yulin, Guangxi. After inspecting the market and returning, he decided to send his wife to Guangzhou. "It was difficult at first, with fierce market competition, and we were often pushed around. But we had our own advantage, which was being at the grassroots level, able to buy good goods, and processing them ourselves, so our products' appearance and color were better than other suppliers. After a year, our herbs, mainly Guanzi Town winter flowers, finally opened up a market in Guangzhou."

Afterwards, in addition to Guangzhou Qingping, Dong Anning also opened up sales channels for Chinese medicinal herbs in Yulin, Guangxi, and Bozhou, Anhui. "Now most of our herbs are shipped to Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, China and other places. Customers there have higher requirements for product appearance. The same herbs normally sell for 60 yuan per jin, but after processing, we can sell them for 100 yuan. As long as quality is guaranteed, the price naturally goes up, and sales channels become more secure."

In recent years, with changes in winter flower planting area and fluctuations in the overall Chinese medicinal herb market, winter flower prices have gone up and down, reaching nearly 20 yuan per jin at the highest and only 6-7 yuan at the lowest. But no matter what the market is like, Dong Anning always adheres to honest business practices, and because of this, he has accumulated many loyal customers.

"As a native of Guanzi Town, I also hope my fellow villagers can live a good life. Next, I will continue to work hard, striving to bring Guanzi Town's winter flowers to a bigger market and let more people benefit." He said with full confidence.