Butterfly cultivator’s flutter with ‘eclosion’
AFTER nine years, Guan Fuyun accomplished a long “eclosion” — establishing his own butterfly business in China’s far northwest. In his butterfly garden, named Seven Colors, visitors can enjoy close contact with real butterflies and see how the insects grow into adults from the chrysalides.
The 34-year-old entrepreneur, from Jimsar County in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, got his business inspiration while watching a TV show in 2011.
Guan believes raising butterflies was a relatively new idea back then, so he took a few tentative steps at the beginning. He then went to Hainan Province in south China and learned butterfly cultivation for three months, bringing home more than 100 chrysalides. Through trial and error, Guan eventually managed to make his butterfly population expand 100-fold by 2014.
Except live butterflies, which can be released in ceremonial activities, Guan has also explored alternative ways to preserve the insects’ ephemeral beauty, by making them into specimens and collages. A vivid, esthetic butterfly wing collage can take days to make.
“It’s more about artistic creation rather than batch hatching,” he said.
Guan’s butterfly products are sold both online and offline with positive market response. His butterfly garden, opened in 2019, was also built with support from the local government.
“I hope I can further expand my business so that more people can be part of it and make a fortune,” Guan said, showing optimism for butterfly business prospects.
(Xinhua)