Returning home to grow tea and run tourism: a Meishan contractor leads villagers to prosperity

"Last year our village still had 61 poor households, but this year there are fewer than 30." Fu Zhihong, Party branch secretary of Qianfeng Village, Zhongshan Township, Hongya County, Meishan City, Sichuan, revealed the secret to shaking off poverty: the barren hills of the past are now planted with tea, and villagers rely on land transfers and working in the tea gardens for a steady income.

Twelve years ago, Fu Zhihong, then a contractor working away from home, returned to his hometown to start a business. Now 39 years old, Fu Zhihong is not only the village Party branch secretary but also the boss of a local tea company. By developing organic tea gardens and at the same time developing rural tourism, he has enabled the local villagers to earn money and prosper as well.

Injury could not stop the dream of starting a business

Fu Zhihong is from Zhongshan Township, Hongya County. When he was 15, his father died early, and just after graduating from junior high school he went out to work. In Hongya county town, he started as an unpaid apprentice bricklayer. Once at a construction site, he accidentally fell from a height, fracturing his collarbone, cervical spine, fingers and other parts, and leaving him with a level-4 physical disability. Even so, he never gave up on starting a business.

In 1998, through a friend's introduction, Fu Zhihong went to Shimian County in Ya'an to paint locally. He strove for perfection, and the projects he handled were once rated as model projects locally. "So naturally more people came looking for me, and the business gradually grew bigger and bigger."

The three magic weapons of "quality, quantity and integrity" enabled Fu Zhihong's construction company to build a good reputation and profits in the industry. In his early twenties, he began working as a contractor and earned the "first bucket of gold" of his life.

Setting up a tea factory to help hometown people get rich

The natural ecological environment of Hongya County is very suitable for tea cultivation. But the lack of leading enterprises meant Hongya tea had no well-known brands, sales were at the primary stage of selling fresh leaves, the whole industry was at a low-end level, and tea farmers' incomes were low.

Zeng Jianqing, former deputy Party secretary of Zhongshan Township, recalled that in the past villagers all "carried baskets to sell fresh leaves," and the money they earned was only a little more than growing rice. "In 2004, the per capita net income of Qianfeng Village was still less than 4,000 yuan, a middling level in the township."

In 2004, the Party committee and government of Zhongshan Township approached the successful Fu Zhihong, hoping he would contribute ideas and efforts to the development of his hometown's tea industry. Fu Zhihong, who had never been involved in tea processing, hesitated at first; he had never had any contact with tea processing. "My family also disagreed. The engineering business was going well and the profits were good, so why go into tea?"

But Fu Zhihong recalled the time when he was 19 and worked hard selling tea. "Now that I have money, can I help the people of my hometown? Later I thought I'd give it a try." In 2004, Fu Zhihong returned to his hometown as a migrant worker to start a business and set up a tea factory.

Organic tea gardens and rural tourism

Fu Zhihong vigorously develops organic tea gardens. At present, of the more than 5,000 mu of tea base established by his company, 3,000 mu have passed organic certification in China, the European Union, Japan and the United States respectively.

Villager Zhan Mujiu, approaching 50, has 10 mu of land but very little income. Through developing organic tea, Zhan Mujiu has obtained more than 6,000 yuan a year in transfer income from these 10 mu of land, and all three members of his family work in the enterprise, earning more than 50,000 yuan. "Poor households like Zhan Mujiu numbered 61 last year, and now fewer than 30 remain," Fu Zhihong said. "Developing the organic tea base is just a demonstration. In the future, villagers can follow the same pattern, run things themselves and achieve prosperity."

In 2013, after being elected Party branch secretary of Qianfeng Village by a high vote, Fu Zhihong organically combined the tea industry with tourism, building an organic tea village while developing rural tourism. Adopting a five-party linked model of "village committee + company + association + farmers' cooperative + tourism," it has now initially formed main areas such as a sightseeing area, a cultural and educational area, an experience area and a fishing area, attracting a large number of people who had left to return home for employment and entrepreneurship.