Blooming flowers bring locals better lives
2023-11-23 20:11:43
By Li Caiyun, Yichang International Communication Studio
In November, lines of trucks loaded with flowers departed from Huoshaoping town, Changyang Autonomous County. In the chilly mountains with an average altitude of 1,800 meters, the hydrangeas are blooming.
"As a vegetable farmer, I never thought we could grow such beautiful flowers in our fields,” said Li Guoai, a local villager who works at the flower base. In his memory, cabbage and radish were once the pillar industries of this area, which brought locals a stable and prosperous life for decades.
In November, lines of trucks loaded with flowers departed from Huoshaoping town, Changyang Autonomous County. In the chilly mountains with an average altitude of 1,800 meters, the hydrangeas are blooming.
"As a vegetable farmer, I never thought we could grow such beautiful flowers in our fields,” said Li Guoai, a local villager who works at the flower base. In his memory, cabbage and radish were once the pillar industries of this area, which brought locals a stable and prosperous life for decades.
However, the past few years saw a decline in local's income due to fierce competition in the vegetable markets. Seeking for a long-term solution, Huoshaoping town turned its eye to the flower industry. The cool climate, strong sunlight and large temperature difference between days and nights all provide suitable conditions for flower cultivation.
In 2020, the first flower enterprise invested 5 million yuan (US$0.7 million) to build a 10 mu (about 0.67 hectares) alpine flower cultivation base. The blooming flowers attracted more villagers and investors to join in on the project. In this November, 55,000 flowers in full bloom are projected to be sold throughout the country, the annual value exceeding 15 million yuan.
Up until now, the town has built 95 mu (6.33 hectares) of high-standard floriculture bases and reached an annual production of 400,000 plants, with more than 10 flower varieties including hydrangea, alpine azalea, and perfume lily. These flowers not only achieve a total value over 20 million yuan (US$2.8 million), but also help dozens of villagers, like Li Guoai, earn an additional income of roughly 150,000 yuan (US$21,143) a year.
