The prospects for calf farming look promising - these cowboys really are something

Program highlights: This cowboy is really something, this cowboy is really unique. Losing money for ten years, winning it all with one move, spending the rest of his life doing just one thing. Watch how this cowboy creates wealth!

Old Yang was waiting for something, and in that moment, a magical scene unfolded.

The cattle heard Old Yang's call and slowly came walking over from a distance in a line.

Old Yang was genuinely proud and at ease, because this herd of cattle all obeyed him - they could even communicate with him.

Reporter: When you call them, they call back too, right? What if I call them?

Yang Jimin: They won't.

Reporter: If I call them, they won't call back. Let me try. Well, that was awkward.

In jeans and a cowboy hat, Old Yang in his fifties looks every bit the old cowboy, exuding cool - yet he can't hide the honest simplicity that comes from working the land.

Reporter: Do you know what a cowboy is?

Yang Jimin: The American West.

Reporter: American West cowboys. You've dressed yourself entirely according to that style.

Yang Jimin: Yes.

Reporter: Do you think you're handsome?

Yang Jimin: No.

Reporter: Actually, you're quite handsome.

And this ranch has more than just cattle - in the surrounding rainforest hides a magical berry.

Today, Bai Yingfu, the manager of the coffee plantation, is leading workers to weed and pest-proof the coffee. Manager Bai has been growing coffee for 16 years.

Manager Bai: Every tree you look at is covered in bright red cherries (coffee). That's what makes me happiest.

Like Old Yang, even when wearing ethnic clothing, they still put on a cowboy hat, because in their hearts they all admire a certain crazy cowboy.

His name is Liu Minghui, the owner of this ranch.

Reporter: I see that as soon as you whistle, the cattle come over.

Liu Minghui: Yes, because they're all my friends. Very noble, so this breed of cattle is called Brahman.

This breed of cattle is called Brahman, with a noble name and temperament. Its most obvious feature is a huge hump located on the back of the neck. Brahman cattle look imposing, but are actually gentle in nature and very fond of being close to people.

Liu Minghui: Okay, okay, stop kissing me.

Liu Minghui is known as the most powerful cowboy in the south. His enterprise integrates coffee, livestock, dining and red wine, with annual sales of 500 million yuan. From a barefoot cowherd boy to an entrepreneur worth over a hundred million, Liu Minghui is hailed as a legend. But few people know - and Liu Minghui rarely reveals - that the coffee on his Manzhongtian estate has been losing money for nearly 10 years straight.

Zhu Zhihong: If you'd seen me a few years ago, I didn't have the smile I have now. Every day I was worrying about this base.

Reporter: Always losing money?

Manager Bai: Always losing money.

But just this year, the coffee price here suddenly soared, and this place attracted the attention of the whole world.

Liu Minghui: After the British magazine The Economist reported it, too many media outlets followed. CNN, BBC - the whole world will know this place because of where this cup of coffee comes from.

Zhu Zhihong: Chairman Liu says the price has multiplied 10 times, but from what I see, it's more than 10 times.

Manzhongtian means "small village by the river" in the Dai language. This is also where Liu Minghui's coffee estate and ranch are located. Liu Minghui is called crazy because he spent ten years setting up a plan here, making this once unknown small village by the river attract the world's attention, and turning the coffee here from a loss-making venture into one whose price has soared more than tenfold. Not only that, Liu Minghui wants to do something even crazier - he wants to use one thing to increase the income of coffee farmers throughout Yunnan by more than 100 times! What is that thing, and what exactly does Liu Minghui want to do?

All the answers are in Manzhongtian, a magical place - and also a dangerous one.

One night in 2015, Manager Bai at the coffee base was awakened by dogs barking.

Manager Bai: 3 dogs, 3 dogs started barking at one o'clock, barking non-stop.

Manager Bai sensed something was wrong, grabbed a flashlight and went out to check. But when he shone the flashlight over, he got a terrible fright.

Manager Bai: I shone the flashlight out, and as soon as I swept it over, those eyes were shining bright.

Zhu Zhihong: When the light hit them, their eyes were red, staring at you.

Manager Bai immediately retreated into the house and woke everyone up, because these uninvited guests were extremely dangerous.

Zhu Zhihong: It was a matter of life and death.

Manager Bai: Extremely dangerous.

Who exactly were these dangerous uninvited guests?

Video: Wow, so cool, so beautiful. Quick, I want to take a photo with my phone too. 18, 19.

This video was shot by Liu Minghui's employees. Every year a herd of wild elephants appears on Liu Minghui's ranch.

Zhu Zhihong: Whenever they enter our land, we specially assign two people to follow them, keeping a safe distance, following them. These people have to be strong and fast runners to follow them.

Reporter: You have to specially accompany them?

Zhu Zhihong: We have to accompany them, every year it's like this.

Wild elephants can hurt people and also destroy coffee.

Manager Bai: Two months ago they came from over there, walked through here, passed through this area. These dead branches here are from when they were destroyed. Same with the coffee - look, the short ones were broken by them. They went through here, heading in that direction down the slope.

Once wild elephants enter the estate, they wander everywhere without restraint, but wild elephants can coexist peacefully with the cattle.

Zhu Zhihong: A very strange phenomenon - our cattle aren't afraid of them, but they're afraid of our cattle. When the distance is very close, about 5-6 meters, the old elephant automatically moves aside a bit, retreats a bit. When the cattle come closer, it retreats a bit more.

Although wild elephants destroy coffee, Liu Minghui and his employees look forward to the elephants' arrival every year, because this herd of wild elephants is inextricably linked to his wealth.

Zhu Zhihong: For example, this year they came in May. If by April they're counting the days - why haven't they come yet?