HEPING OFFERS VISITORS AN AUTHENTIC RURAL EXPERIENCE
Towering trees and rolling farmlands unfold when one sets foot at Heping farm. Dogs run around, playing with each other in the wide open spaces, and roosters strut around searching for food. And there are horses in the stable.
The farm, at the entrance of the ancient Heping town in the north of the southeastern Fujian province, was developed by Wei Zhicheng four years ago after he moved back to his hometown.
Explaining the move, Wei, who is in his 40s, says: “I grew up in a farmer’s family and have farming in my veins.”
Wei, who was in movie backstage business in Beijing since graduating from Fujian Normal University in 1997, used to make roughly 1 million yuan ($157,800) a year before he gave it all up to return home.
“The money was good, but the late hours and the traffic were killing me,” he says.
Wei used to have to spend two hours taking his daughter to school and picking her up each day.
That’s why he jumped at the opportunity to return home when one of his closest friends Tie Qi called him and told him about the farm project.
The project was part of the Heping government’s plan to develop the town and improve livelihoods.
Wei was given four-year rentalfree use of the 600 mu (40 hectares) land.
“We built everything basically from scratch,” says Wei.
“It was lots of work, but it was fun”.
Now, the farm features a 1,500square meter restaurant, a 300-mu herb plantation and a 100-mu forest park.
The farm gives visitors a chance to ride horses, practice archery, pick fruits, go fishing and do sightseeing, while enjoying the distinctive local cuisine.
The farm receives more than 60,000 travelers annually, and has a turnover of more than 5 million yuan, according to Wei.
The farm has become a popular place for team-building activities, and school military drills, and Wei’s business has created job opportunities for more than 120 locals.
Most of them work flexible hours, and plant seeds, pull out weeds and help with harvests at the farm when they don’t have farm work in their own plots of land.
At the moment, there are a dozen of them working full time at the farm.
Zhang Yingfa is one of them. And he has been taking care of feeding the horses, cleaning at the farm for the past three years.
“It (the farm) is close to my home and work here is good,” the 52-yearold local says.
Zhang gets paid roughly 3,200 yuan a month, an amount he used to typically earn in a year.
Earlier, he could barely feed his family by growing paddy.
But now, Zhang and more than 200 others like him, who used to live below the poverty line, have got out of poverty thanks to projects like the farm.
Speaking about the farm, Huang Zongping, the deputy head of Heping town, says: “We’ll continue giving support to similar projects to improve livelihoods.”
Totally, five enterprises have been set up to offer employment opportunities to poor households in the town..
And, while job opportunities have been offered to those who can work, relief is provided to those who are ill, says Huang.
Also, more than 50 households are being encouraged to grow paddy and moso bamboo, or to set up shops selling local specialties.
The goal is to ensure that all households have steady source of income, says Huang.
Meanwhile, Wei plans to develop agriculture product e-commerce, a logistics system and leisure tourism to help the locals prosper.
Camping facilities for youngsters are also being planned, says Wei.
I grew up in a farmer’s family and have farming in my veins.” Wei Zhicheng, developer of Heping farm