Villager with disability builds a winery business and finds the road to prosperity

Fei Tongjin is a resident of Group 4, Wanxing Village, Wansheng Town, Dongpo District, and a person with a disability affecting his left leg. With unyielding determination despite his disability, he founded a distillery, not only achieving prosperity through entrepreneurship but also providing jobs for more than 10 villagers, 3 of whom are also people with disabilities. In recent years, he has been named a "Model of Self-Reliance" and one of the "Top Ten Leaders in Entrepreneurship and Prosperity" by Meishan City and Dongpo District.

At the age of 7, an accident left Fei Tongjin's left leg disabled. Having emerged from his distress, Fei Tongjin quietly resolved that he would not become a burden on his family and society, and that he would earn his own living through his own abilities. After graduating from high school, he learned tailoring, worked in a woven bag factory, and then went into feed distribution, doing all kinds of work. Although he did not earn much, he was able to support himself.

In 1996, Fei Tongjin began using his advantage in feed distribution to take up duck farming, earning more than 4,000 yuan that year. But the following year, due to drastic fluctuations in the poultry and egg market, he lost 120,000 yuan.

This setback did not defeat him. After pulling himself together, Fei Tongjin, through extensive inquiries and investigation, captured an important piece of information: "the bran-free pure sorghum winemaking technique." "This new-method pure sorghum baijiu has a mellow aroma, low alcohol content, and relatively low cost." Thinking of the abundant local grain and other winemaking raw materials, Fei Tongjin decided to set up a small distillery.

To avoid mistakes in both technique and information, Fei Tongjin made special trips to well-known distilling enterprises around Meishan to learn from masters and gain hands-on experience, gradually becoming an expert in winemaking.

In March 1998, Fei Tongjin's distilling enterprise was finally established. But not long after the distillery got started, it ran into difficulties with working capital, could not buy winemaking raw materials, and nearly had to stop production. At the critical moment, the Dongpo District Disabled Persons' Federation helped him obtain a subsidized loan of tens of thousands of yuan, easing the urgent need.

The distillery got on track. The baijiu produced by Fei Tongjin not only sold well locally but was also favored by distributors in places such as Chengdu and Chongqing. In recent years, Fei Tongjin further expanded the scale of winemaking, increasing annual baijiu production capacity from 100 tons to 150 tons.

This year, he also has new plans: to sell his own liquor via the internet. He is now preparing to learn e-commerce knowledge.