Woman making village richer with fruits of her labor

An enterprising young woman in eastern China is hoping a locally grown fruit and its flowers will help put her village on the national map, and enrich its residents in the process.

When many people from Siyang county, Jiangsu province, left their struggling hometown years ago they could little imagine that throngs of tourists would one day come to see peach blossoms.

Song Shanshan, 27, an entrepreneur known as Ms Peach, is given credit for this ongoing transformation.

Born and raised in Zhaochen village, Song refused to believe that her hometown would remain a “rotten peach”, a local term for the poorest place or people. She returned after graduating from university in the nearby city of Huaiyin in 2012, and after years of hard work now runs a sofa factory with over 150 million yuan ($23.8 million) in annual revenue, which creates more than 500 jobs.

“I want my fellow villagers to make money here, instead of leaving their hometown,” Song said.

Her dream is becoming a reality, as the average monthly income last year stood at 6,000 yuan per villager, up from just 1,000 yuan in 2012.

Being a successful businesswoman did not satisfy Song’s strong will to change her hometown, and she also desired to become a public servant.

Last year, the city of Suqian — which administers Siyang — started a recruitment program to attract more well-educated young people to become grassroots officials.

Song became the deputy Party secretary of Zhaochen village in August after passing several exams and performing well in interviews.

In China, peach blossoms symbolize love and romance, and Taohuayuan (Peach Blossom Land) is the Chinese term for a utopia filled with the flowers where kind people live in prosperity.

Farmers had been growing peaches in Siyang for hundreds of years but had never found a way to sell the fruit in a profitable way.

As a successful entrepreneur and a respected Party official, Song rented 13.3 hectares of land from villagers and started a peach orchard last year.

After thorough research, Song and her team planted over 20 different varieties of peaches, installed an advanced drip irrigation system and invited agricultural technicians to work in the orchard.

“Of course, the orchard will not be as profitable as my furniture business, but this is a project that will bring more money to local residents,” she said.

Song visits her orchard daily, and has vowed never to let the peaches rot. “I’ve made a promise and I can’t disappoint the villagers.”

March and April, the peach blossom season, are the most lively months of the year in Siyang, as many tourists visit in the county to view the blossoms.

Garden tours are now popular among flower and nature photography enthusiasts in China.

When the trees start producing fruit in three years, Song’s orchard will become a producer and wholesaler of peaches. She plans to market and sell the fruit using China’s booming e-commerce industry. The orchard now provides nearly 500 jobs and contributes 2 million yuan in rent to 195 families across the county every year.