Agricultural reform expert Zhou Guolong's legendary revival of Taiwan, China's edamame industry

From the Tatajia Saddle of the Yushan Range heading south, accompanied by Qiawei Mountain, the waves of the Nanzixian River roar all the way to Qishan before they can finally catch their breath in the embrace of the plains. Anyone who has truly traveled this river route knows that the southbound journey is dark all the way, and only when the lights of Qishan appear in view like fireflies in the night does any sign of human life emerge.

The river water enriches the farmland of Qishan, raising countless farmers who live by the saying "one grain of rice, a hundred grains of sweat." Zhou Guolong, director of the Qinan Branch of the Kaohsiung Agricultural Improvement Station under the Council of Agriculture, is also a child raised by this fertile land. "Our house was built on Taiwan Sugar Corporation land. My father worked as a contract farmer for Taiwan Sugar, and even my pocket money came from earning Taiwan Sugar wages." Zhou Guolong recalls that from a young age he pulled sugarcane grass and stripped sugarcane leaves in the fields, and he was no stranger to the toil of farming under the scorching sun. He says he is a simple, honest farm boy with no "flashy" ideas about the future; being down-to-earth is something engraved in his genes.