Returnee Turtle Farmer Takes an Unconventional Path, An Innovative Model Blazes a New Trail

Episode highlights: In 2009, he graduated with a master's degree in business administration from Canada and returned to his hometown to enter an unfamiliar industry: farming rare turtles. The moment he entered the turtle and soft-shelled turtle industry, he left his peers stunned. While high-end turtle species were all the rage, he instead set his sights on the low- and mid-range turtles and soft-shelled turtles that nobody favored. When the price of the Chinese golden thread turtle plummeted and everyone else rushed to sell off their stock, he quickly raised over 2 million yuan to buy in. This risky move tripled his sales in just two years. In only five years, he became a leading figure in the local turtle and soft-shelled turtle industry. What business opportunity did he spot? And how did he pull it off?

This is Wu Guozheng's turtle and soft-shelled turtle farm. Today, Wu Guozheng is going to drain the pond and sell snapping turtles.

Reporter: How many turtles can you harvest today?

Wu Guozheng: About 8,000 jin today.

Reporter: About 8,000 jin.

Wu Guozheng: Yes, because the scale keeps growing, the price now is about 20 yuan per jin. It also depends on whether there are any injured turtles, because those need to be sorted out.

Snapping turtles are highly aggressive, and their appearance resembles that of a crocodile in some ways.

Wu Guozheng: First of all, its tail looks a lot like a crocodile's tail. You see, it has these tail spikes. Second, its ferocity is also like a crocodile's; it opens its mouth to attack.

Reporter: These two have already started fighting.

Wu Guozheng: Yes, yes, yes.

Reporter: They've locked jaws.

Wu Guozheng: And third, the little spiky bumps on its skin are also very much like a crocodile's. So we named it snapping turtle after its appearance and form.

On the concrete side walls of this pond there are holes of all sizes, all dug out by snapping turtles in less than a year. This pond, one mu in size, holds more than 800 snapping turtles, and Wu Guozheng goes barefoot into the pond to catch them.

The reporter also decided to go into the pond to get a close-up look at the snapping turtles.

Reporter: If I go in barefoot like this, won't they bite me?

Wu Guozheng: No, they won't. Seeing how pretty you are, they won't bite you.

Wu Guozheng: Careful, careful, careful, don't rush, don't rush, get your footing slowly, get your footing.

Once the reporter got into the muddy pond, she could barely move, and this is how she walked.

With Wu Guozheng's help, the reporter just managed to stand steady in the muddy pond. Yet Wu Guozheng not only walked steadily, he also used his feet specifically to sense where the snapping turtles were.

Wu Guozheng: I've just stepped on one. Now you can grab its tail.

Reporter: This is the tail?

Wu Guozheng: Yes. This one is really big.

Reporter: This one is really big, how much does it weigh?

Wu Guozheng: This one is 15 jin.

Reporter: Look, as soon as it comes out, its mouth opens wide.

Wu Guozheng: Yes, yes. As soon as I stepped on it, I could generally feel it, that is, its shell; its feet are all tucked in, just that shell, you step on that shell.

Reporter: So if you step barefoot and feel something hard, that means there's a snapping turtle?

Wu Guozheng: Yes, yes, yes.

Seeing how accurately Wu Guozheng caught turtles, the reporter also tried using his method to catch a snapping turtle.

Wu Guozheng: Is there one here? Is there? If there is, pick it up.

Reporter: It won't bite me, will it?

Wu Guozheng: No, no, no, don't worry. Grab the tail. Good grab, good grab.

Reporter: It's so big.

Wu Guozheng: See, it's a bit ferocious.

The whole pond is full of ferocious snapping turtles like this one. How does Wu Guozheng dare to go barefoot in the water to catch them? The reason has to do with the water.

Reporter: So fierce.

Wu Guozheng: Yes, very fierce. Because once it leaves the water, its aggression shows.

Reporter: So it's not this fierce in the water?

Wu Guozheng: Right.

Reporter: Put it back and let me see. Its mouth is still open.

Wu Guozheng: Because it feels there's still danger; see, it will come over to bite me, and then burrow into the mud.

Reporter: That way you can grab its tail.

Wu Guozheng: Yes, yes, yes. That way it won't bite. See, no matter how you step on it, it won't bite.

Snapping turtles rarely attack people on their own in the water; only after leaving the water, when they feel unsafe, do they go into attack mode.

Wu Guozheng: It attacks people because it's afraid; actually, when we say ferocious, we mean it's very ferocious when it attacks people. For me, the more ferocious it is, the more lively and vigorous it proves to be, and the better.

Reporter: The better. Does that mean it can sell for a higher price?

Wu Guozheng: Yes.

This is the largest snapping turtle Wu Guozheng caught in this pond.

Wu Guozheng: This one must be 20 jin.

Reporter: How long have you raised one this big?

Wu Guozheng: This one has also been raised for 3 years.

Reporter: How much can one this size sell for?

Wu Guozheng: If it's 20 jin, it's about 600 yuan each.

Reporter: 600 yuan for one turtle?

Wu Guozheng: 500 to 600 yuan.

Reporter: And roughly how many turtles like this are in the pond?

Wu Guozheng: About one third.

Reporter: One third?

Wu Guozheng: Yes, yes.

Snapping turtles are mainly eaten as a meat turtle, and market demand is huge.

Wu Guozheng: The shell and bones can be simmered into soup, the meat can be sliced and cooked in a hot pot, and the four limbs, head and tail can be braised, so you can make three dishes from one snapping turtle.

Snapping turtles are only part of Wu Guozheng's wealth. On Wu Guozheng's farm there are also yellow-margined box turtles, Chinese pond turtles, pearl soft-shelled turtles and other varieties, with sales of over 10 million yuan in 2014. Relying on these rare turtles, Wu Guozheng has also become a wealthy, capable man in the eyes of those around him.