Optoelectronics professor launches organic banana course: schools may close, but farmland will not run away
He pulls on camouflage work pants, slips into rain boots, ties a curved blade at his waist. Li Limin, fully geared up, sets off to the fields in an old cream-colored secondhand pickup truck. His deeply tanned skin sets off a shirt speckled with banana spots, and his appearance is no different from any ordinary banana farmer. Perhaps only the glasses on his face still retain a trace of the scholar.
Outsiders might never guess that Li Limin was once a full-fledged university professor. But this is not the typical story of giving up a high salary to return home and farm.
Returning to His Native Soil: Defining a High-Scoring Life by Its Fruits
Right now Li Limin's main challenge is sales. Half of his bananas go to the fruit marketing cooperative, where the buying price is sometimes 9 yuan per kilogram, sometimes over 70 yuan per kilogram - banana gold, banana dirt, like riding a roller coaster. The other half relies on the support of relatives and friends, where the price is better and more stable. He hopes to find more friendly, chemical-free channels, but so far has no partners.
Having earned a doctorate and become a university professor, then suddenly returning to his hometown to farm - would he face strange looks from family and neighbors? Li Limin says calmly, no, rural people are all very warm, and they even praise him for being hardworking. Country villages have always had plenty of teachers and principals who retire to grow bananas, so it is just like taking early retirement. His father is completely understanding, and always comes to help at harvest time; the scene of three generations, grandfather, son and grandchildren, gathered together cutting betel nuts is full of harmony and joy. His wife is his most important pillar, keeping the family's finances stable, allowing him to farm without worries.
Although the school still owes Li Limin more than a million in salary, still tied up in legal proceedings; and when he eats at restaurants, the owner still calls him "Teacher Li," he has put all these worries and titles behind him. He declares: My boss now is the Earth! He hopes to have opportunities to spread the ideas of organic cultivation and energy saving and carbon reduction.
The one teacherly habit Li Limin still keeps is grading the fruit he grows. "This guava only gets eighty points, but those bananas get ninety-five!" Returning to his hometown, reconnecting with the land and with life, sweating and thinking to his heart's content, the sweet fruit that finally ripens is more healing than anything.
To buy Li Limin's bananas, contact: 0922792989
(This article was funded by the Jian-Chen Environmental Education Foundation specifically for personnel expenses, but the foundation does not interfere at all with news topics or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)
He pulls on camouflage work pants, slips into rain boots, ties a curved blade at his waist. Li Limin, fully geared up, sets off to the fields in an old cream-colored secondhand pickup truck. His deeply tanned skin sets off a shirt speckled with banana spots, and his appearance is no different from any ordinary banana farmer. Perhaps only the glasses on his face still retain a trace of the scholar.
Outsiders might never guess that Li Limin was once a full-fledged university professor. But this is not the typical story of giving up a high salary to return home and farm.
Returning to His Native Soil: Defining a High-Scoring Life by Its Fruits
Right now Li Limin's main challenge is sales. Half of his bananas go to the fruit marketing cooperative, where the buying price is sometimes 9 yuan per kilogram, sometimes over 70 yuan per kilogram - banana gold, banana dirt, like riding a roller coaster. The other half relies on the support of relatives and friends, where the price is better and more stable. He hopes to find more friendly, chemical-free channels, but so far has no partners.
Having earned a doctorate and become a university professor, then suddenly returning to his hometown to farm - would he face strange looks from family and neighbors? Li Limin says calmly, no, rural people are all very warm, and they even praise him for being hardworking. Country villages have always had plenty of teachers and principals who retire to grow bananas, so it is just like taking early retirement. His father is completely understanding, and always comes to help at harvest time; the scene of three generations, grandfather, son and grandchildren, gathered together cutting betel nuts is full of harmony and joy. His wife is his most important pillar, keeping the family's finances stable, allowing him to farm without worries.
Although the school still owes Li Limin more than a million in salary, still tied up in legal proceedings; and when he eats at restaurants, the owner still calls him "Teacher Li," he has put all these worries and titles behind him. He declares: My boss now is the Earth! He hopes to have opportunities to spread the ideas of organic cultivation and energy saving and carbon reduction.
The one teacherly habit Li Limin still keeps is grading the fruit he grows. "This guava only gets eighty points, but those bananas get ninety-five!" Returning to his hometown, reconnecting with the land and with life, sweating and thinking to his heart's content, the sweet fruit that finally ripens is more healing than anything.
To buy Li Limin's bananas, contact: 0922792989
(This article was funded by the Jian-Chen Environmental Education Foundation specifically for personnel expenses, but the foundation does not interfere at all with news topics or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)
He pulls on camouflage work pants, slips into rain boots, ties a curved blade at his waist. Li Limin, fully geared up, sets off to the fields in an old cream-colored secondhand pickup truck. His deeply tanned skin sets off a shirt speckled with banana spots, and his appearance is no different from any ordinary banana farmer. Perhaps only the glasses on his face still retain a trace of the scholar.
Outsiders might never guess that Li Limin was once a full-fledged university professor. But this is not the typical story of giving up a high salary to return home and farm.
Returning to His Native Soil: Defining a High-Scoring Life by Its Fruits
Right now Li Limin's main challenge is sales. Half of his bananas go to the fruit marketing cooperative, where the buying price is sometimes 9 yuan per kilogram, sometimes over 70 yuan per kilogram - banana gold, banana dirt, like riding a roller coaster. The other half relies on the support of relatives and friends, where the price is better and more stable. He hopes to find more friendly, chemical-free channels, but so far has no partners.
Having earned a doctorate and become a university professor, then suddenly returning to his hometown to farm - would he face strange looks from family and neighbors? Li Limin says calmly, no, rural people are all very warm, and they even praise him for being hardworking. Country villages have always had plenty of teachers and principals who retire to grow bananas, so it is just like taking early retirement. His father is completely understanding, and always comes to help at harvest time; the scene of three generations, grandfather, son and grandchildren, gathered together cutting betel nuts is full of harmony and joy. His wife is his most important pillar, keeping the family's finances stable, allowing him to farm without worries.
Although the school still owes Li Limin more than a million in salary, still tied up in legal proceedings; and when he eats at restaurants, the owner still calls him "Teacher Li," he has put all these worries and titles behind him. He declares: My boss now is the Earth! He hopes to have opportunities to spread the ideas of organic cultivation and energy saving and carbon reduction.
The one teacherly habit Li Limin still keeps is grading the fruit he grows. "This guava only gets eighty points, but those bananas get ninety-five!" Returning to his hometown, reconnecting with the land and with life, sweating and thinking to his heart's content, the sweet fruit that finally ripens is more healing than anything.
To buy Li Limin's bananas, contact: 0922792989
(This article was funded by the Jian-Chen Environmental Education Foundation specifically for personnel expenses, but the foundation does not interfere at all with news topics or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)
He pulls on camouflage work pants, slips into rain boots, ties a curved blade at his waist. Li Limin, fully geared up, sets off to the fields in an old cream-colored secondhand pickup truck. His deeply tanned skin sets off a shirt speckled with banana spots, and his appearance is no different from any ordinary banana farmer. Perhaps only the glasses on his face still retain a trace of the scholar.
Outsiders might never guess that Li Limin was once a full-fledged university professor. But this is not the typical story of giving up a high salary to return home and farm.
Returning to His Native Soil: Defining a High-Scoring Life by Its Fruits
Right now Li Limin's main challenge is sales. Half of his bananas go to the fruit marketing cooperative, where the buying price is sometimes 9 yuan per kilogram, sometimes over 70 yuan per kilogram - banana gold, banana dirt, like riding a roller coaster. The other half relies on the support of relatives and friends, where the price is better and more stable. He hopes to find more friendly, chemical-free channels, but so far has no partners.
Having earned a doctorate and become a university professor, then suddenly returning to his hometown to farm - would he face strange looks from family and neighbors? Li Limin says calmly, no, rural people are all very warm, and they even praise him for being hardworking. Country villages have always had plenty of teachers and principals who retire to grow bananas, so it is just like taking early retirement. His father is completely understanding, and always comes to help at harvest time; the scene of three generations, grandfather, son and grandchildren, gathered together cutting betel nuts is full of harmony and joy. His wife is his most important pillar, keeping the family's finances stable, allowing him to farm without worries.
Although the school still owes Li Limin more than a million in salary, still tied up in legal proceedings; and when he eats at restaurants, the owner still calls him "Teacher Li," he has put all these worries and titles behind him. He declares: My boss now is the Earth! He hopes to have opportunities to spread the ideas of organic cultivation and energy saving and carbon reduction.
The one teacherly habit Li Limin still keeps is grading the fruit he grows. "This guava only gets eighty points, but those bananas get ninety-five!" Returning to his hometown, reconnecting with the land and with life, sweating and thinking to his heart's content, the sweet fruit that finally ripens is more healing than anything.
To buy Li Limin's bananas, contact: 0922792989
(This article was funded by the Jian-Chen Environmental Education Foundation specifically for personnel expenses, but the foundation does not interfere at all with news topics or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)