What secret to prosperity is hidden in the "Flower and Fruit Mountain"

In late autumn, just as dawn was breaking, villager Shu Tianfu and his wife went out, plunging straight into the plum orchard, and would not return home to make breakfast until the sun was high. This season is exactly the time for pruning and shaping the plum trees.

"Every tree must be properly shaped, only then will there be a good harvest next year." Shu Tianfu estimated to the reporter that if the weather is normal and market prices are stable, next year's income could reach 100,000 yuan.

In Bamiao Village, Miao'an Township, Xuanhan County, people who have grown rich by planting plums are everywhere, just like Shu Tianfu.

Yet if we turn back the clock more than ten years, this place presented an entirely different picture. As village Party branch secretary Yao Wentai described it, back then the villagers of Bamiao Village were teased as "riding motorcycles to plow the fields, seeing a car as celebrating the New Year"; because transportation was inconvenient, "ripe products rotted in the fields, and thousands of people suffered in silence." Nowadays, Bamiao Village has "roads to prosperity winding around the mountain, money trees planted on every slope," every household plants plum trees, and "one mu of orchard is like ten mu of farmland, earning ten thousand yuan with ease."

So where exactly was the "secret" to Bamiao Village's escape from poverty found?

Repeated setbacks, poverty spurs the desire for change

In the past, Bamiao Village always planted traditional crops such as wheat, rice, corn and sweet potato, which only solved the problem of food and clothing. In order to escape poverty, Bamiao Village did a lot of exploring. At first they planted more than ten kinds of fruit including crisp sweet persimmon, Huanghua pear and citrus, but all ended in failure.

Could this stretch of mountains really stay poor forever? Unwilling to give up, the township government brought in agricultural experts from outside who conducted repeated surveys of Bamiao Village, and finally reached a conclusion: the local soil is an absolutely ideal suitable growing area for planting plums!

The "secret" was found, but at first it was not accepted by everyone, and even met with doubt and resistance from some villagers. Villager Huang Xiaoquan was one of them: "We used to plant rice, corn and sweet potato. Although income was limited, at least there was a guarantee every year. If it turns out like planting crisp persimmon, Huanghua pear and citrus, all failing again, we cannot afford the turmoil."

At this point, demonstration was most important. Village Party branch secretary Yao Wentai mobilized all the Party members and cadres in the village to take the lead in trial-planting crisp red plum. Three years passed, and the crisp red plum had a bumper harvest, bringing considerable economic returns. The masses saw it with their own eyes, and their enthusiasm was aroused. By 2008, almost every household in the village had planted crisp red plum.

Building a "Flower and Fruit Mountain," planting it full of "money trees"

Today's Bamiao Village has become a widely known "Flower and Fruit Mountain." In the third month of spring, plum blossoms bloom in competition all over the mountains and plains, and that pure snow-white makes everyone feel relaxed and happy; in midsummer, the green and crystal-clear plums weigh the branches so heavily they cannot straighten up, within reach, making everyone's mouth water.

The tremendous changes in their hometown make those who have gone out to work as migrant laborers long for home even more. Shu Zhonghua used to work in Beijing all along. Seeing that his neighbors had all grown rich through plums, he now also wants to return to his hometown and give it a try. He did a calculation for the reporter: his family has nearly 5 mu of land, planting 50 trees per mu, and when fully in production each tree yields 100 kg; calculated at a market price of 8 yuan per kg, 5 mu of plum orchard brings in more than 100,000 yuan a year, much better than planting traditional crops.

The key is that Miao'an's plums are never a worry to sell. "Every time the plums ripen, buyers from Guizhou, Chongqing, Shaanxi and other places come here to purchase them, and there are also many tourists from nearby who come to visit. We sell out without even leaving home. I never imagined that a former poor place could now grow rich just sitting here." Speaking of the changes in his hometown, Shu Zhonghua was all smiles.

Besides growing rich by planting plums, Shu Tianfu also has a new plan in mind: "There are many people coming here to visit now. I plan to start a farmhouse restaurant too, and strive to open when the plum blossoms bloom in March next year. That will be another big business."