Nine days and nine nights to crack the secret of immense wealth

This is an important yak trading market in the northwest. Every evening, large trucks carrying yaks from the pastoral areas gradually converge here.

This man is named Yu Genlai, one of the few big yak buyers here. But 10 years ago, when he first arrived, nobody took him seriously at all.

Yak dealer Wu Tiejun: "We've known each other for about ten years. Back then he was nothing, buying five or six yaks a day. Now we can't suck up to him fast enough. He needs four or five hundred yaks every day now, and that volume is considered fairly large in our industry."

September and October are the peak season for yaks going to market. Dealers keep watch day and night, eager to make their move. As soon as a yak is brought into the market, they all rush over.

Reporter: What are you looking at?

Yu Genlai: Looking at whether the yak is fat or thin, whether there's a lot of meat.

Reporter: Why are you in such a hurry to get down there?

Dealer: Time to do business! If you go down late, the yak won't be yours.

Local yaks are in great demand. Buyers not only have to act fast, but when negotiating prices they also keep things secret, haggling with each other inside their sleeves.

Yu Genlai: They don't know what our price actually is.

Reporter: What happens if the person next to you finds out?

Yu Genlai: If they find out, they'll drive the price up, definitely higher than mine. If I offer 20 yuan per jin, they'll definitely offer 21 yuan per jin. We compete with each other.

Trading continues until seven or eight the next morning. Yu Genlai spends the whole night circling the market. Strangely, he doesn't buy a single yak.

Yu Genlai: If I don't come in person, I won't know the market conditions, how much stock there is. We need to understand. Because competition is too fierce, and if you buy too high, you have no competitiveness in the market.

Yu Genlai purchases over 30,000 yaks a year. Even a 1 mao difference per jin would cost him four or five hundred thousand yuan in losses. So getting a clear picture of the yak market is crucial. Next, Yu Genlai will go deep into the pastoral areas to buy yaks from herders' homes. That is where his wealth originates. Along the way, many situations arose that surprised the reporter.

This day is Yu Genlai's first day buying yaks in the pastoral area. Along the way, we encountered a household moving their yak herd.

Nomadic migration is a way of life passed down through generations by the herders of the Qinghai grasslands.

In early autumn, some high-altitude areas of Qinghai already have snow. The herders pack up all their belongings and move from the summer pasture to the relatively sheltered winter pasture.

This herding household is driving over two hundred yaks in migration. They could be considered a major household here. Running into them made Yu Genlai very excited.

Yu Genlai: Look at the yaks, see how big they are, and discuss the price with them.

Reporter: You've taken a liking to this household's yaks?

Yu Genlai: Yeah, this household's yaks are especially good.

But unexpectedly, our actions actually drew the herders' displeasure.

Reporter: Are they shooing us away?

Yu Genlai: Move this way, quick!

Reporter: What's wrong with him?

Yu Genlai: He's angry, he's angry, really angry. They're driving the yaks back.

The local guide told us that during migration, to keep the yaks moving along the planned route, the herders have to keep driving them. Our sudden appearance happened to block the herd's path, and the startled yaks became unmanageable.

Local guide Danzeng Jiancuo: Driving yaks is extremely hard work. You blocked the yaks' path. When yaks see people, they stop moving, you know?

Yu Genlai is from Fujian. In 2005, he had no choice but to come to the grasslands to buy yaks from herders' homes. Now 10 years have passed, and this southerner still has trouble buying yaks in the pastoral areas.

Local guide Danzeng Jiancuo: Customs and habits are different. You don't understand, and conflicts happen often.

Yu Genlai: We hadn't communicated, and he got upset.

Over these two-plus months, Yu Genlai has to collect 500 yaks on average per day. He feels enormous pressure.

Yu Genlai: We've come from very far away to buy your yaks.

Local guide Danzeng Jiancuo: They're not selling. They won't sell. They're angry and won't sell. Let's go find someone else.

Reporter: They won't sell just because they're angry? They won't earn money even if you give it to them?

Local guide Danzeng Jiancuo: No. If the relationship is good, they'll even give one to you, no problem. If the relationship is bad, they won't sell to you no matter how much money you offer.

Just after arriving in the pastoral area, things got off to a bad start. A shadow fell over Yu Genlai's heart. On the buying journey ahead, what will be waiting for us?

Our vehicle crossed mountain after mountain, climbing all the way. After more than 3 hours, the vehicle had a problem.

Yu Genlai: It overheated. Very hot to the touch. On mountain roads it easily overheats. This road is very steep, really bad. It overheats often.

The pastoral area is sparsely populated. You might not encounter a passing vehicle for hours. Cell phone signal often comes and goes. Even making a rescue call takes considerable effort.

Reporter: Did you get through?

Local guide Danzeng Jiancuo: Got through.

Reporter: So what do we do?

Local guide Danzeng Jiancuo: He said he can't come right away. So what do we do?

Local guide Danzeng Jiancuo: How long will it take him to get here from there?

Reporter: An hour and a half.

Yu Genlai told the reporter that since he began buying yaks in the pastoral areas, he has encountered many difficulties greater than this one, and even his life has been threatened. But he has never thought of backing down.

At age 22, Yu Genlai came from his hometown of Gutian, Fujian, to Qinghai, pushing a bicycle and peddling local specialties. In the blink of an eye, 15 years passed, and his life still hadn't improved much.

Yu Genlai: I can't go home. I can't face the folks back home. I traveled thousands of miles to come here. If I go back empty-handed, the folks, the neighbors, they'd all look down on you. Even my parents would look down on you. Other people go out and make it. Why did you go out and come home empty-handed?

Yu Genlai longs to return home in glory, but for someone who only had 3 years of schooling, that's easier said than done.

In 2005, these strips of dry jerky gave Yu Genlai hope of turning his fortunes around. This traditional delicacy from herders' homes was not commonly seen on the market at the time. Yu Genlai caught the business opportunity, scraped together over a hundred thousand yuan, and built a yak jerky processing factory in Xining.

Yu Genlai's yak jerky had no trouble selling, but because he lacked money, each time he bought yaks he could only buy two or three. Only after the products sold did he have money to buy more yaks. The factory's production was intermittent. Everyone thought this small-scale business couldn't grow big. But a year later, relying on a wealth plan, Yu Genlai took in 3,500 yaks in one year, and annual sales exceeded 5 million yuan.

The tents of the nomadic herders are hidden among the endless mountains. Sometimes you have to cross several mountains just to come across one or two households. In 2006, Yu Genlai brought his wealth plan to the pastoral areas to find herders willing to cooperate.