8 | Thursday, June 17, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PATH TO GLORY E-commerce brings wealth to lily growers

With daughter’s help, village chief finds market for dwindling industry

By CHENG SI in Beijing received a positive response and MA JINGNA in Lanzhou from the market. The real turnaround came in The “blind box” is not just a 2013 when Gao was on a busi- marketing tool for piquing peo- ness trip to Longnan city. He was ple’s curiosity, it can also be a amazed that the villagers there useful way of helping villagers were selling their walnuts make a better living. online, having already recog- In February, 60-year-old Gao nized the power of e-commerce. Zuowang, who had just finished “Bags of walnuts were trans- serving as Yuanjiawan’s Party sec- ported from the village via an retary, released a blind box of express station, and it was con- agricultural products and turned nected to the outside world by the the northwest Gansu province network. I thought that our lilies backwater into a viral sensation. could also sell well online,” he said. Min Shengcai (center) and volunteers plant trees in Lintan county, Gansu province. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY “We are all farmers in the vil- But Gao was very clear about lage and have been making our the disadvantages of running an living planting Lanzhou lilies for online store. “We are all just farm- generations. We live well as long ers. We know nothing but farm- Hard early life provides gritty education for official as the lilies sell well,” he said. ing,” he said. Then he thought of Borrowing the idea of the blind his daughter — then 26-year-old box — a random assortment of Gao Yanling, who was scheduled By CHENG SI in Beijing uate student at Northwest Normal He also collected donations total- toys bought or given as gifts — to graduate from Northwest Nor- and MA JINGNA in Lanzhou University, chose to volunteer. He ing 470,000 yuan for 13 schools in Gao thrilled customers by filling mal University that year. helped rescue disaster-hit residents Lintan from April 2018 to October his box with earth in which he hid He asked her to help run an “I once had a very hard life, so I I hope that we can and gave counseling to students. 2020, and he was able to help near- vacuum-packed agricultural online store in the village to sell lil- know the importance of supporting foster more talent in Among the students he helped ly 1,300 students. products such as the edible lilies, ies and other agricultural produce. those who now experience hard- was Hei Zhenglan, who had lost her Though both working conditions potatoes and pumpkins and Gao Yanling said that it felt ships,” said Min Shengcai, an edu- Lintan. As long as we parents during the quake and had and salary were better than at his included a small scoop for them to like her father was giving her an cation official and Party secretary have talent here, the taken to isolating herself due to the previous post, Min chose to return dig their purchases out of the box. order rather than trying to per- of a charity organization, who is shock. To help her, Min traveled to Lintan after he finished work in “We launched our blind box suade her. “He said that I would paying society back with kindness. place can develop in back to Gansu to apply for a month- Tianjin in October 2018. hoping that young people would never do anything more success- Born in a backwater village in a sustainable way.” ly 300-yuan relief payment from “My hometown needed me. get to know the lilies we grow, and ful in the outside world than sell- Lintan county in northwest Gansu the Gansu Red Cross Society. There are fewer people with high- fall in love with them,” he said. ing lilies online in the village.” province, Min’s parents went to the Min Shengcai, chairman of the After finishing postgraduate er education in these places,” he Selling produce in blind boxes Angered, she refused. Xinjiang Uygur autonomous Lintan Charity Association in studies, Min started work as a civil said. “Some of the students in jun- was a new move for Gao, but not Gansu province Their conversation was dead- region for work when he was in servant and moved to Lintan in ior high schools don’t even know one that was surprising, as he has locked for eight months, but junior high school, leaving him 2012. how to start a computer or master worked hard to help Yuanjiawan eventually, she relented. “My par- behind in the village. rare for people who’ve never expe- In April 2018, he was dispatched basic laptop skills. They need shake off poverty by developing ents needed me, so I had a duty.” “I was very lonely and felt inse- rienced hardship to feel that kind to Tianjin to take up a temporary teachers to broaden their minds,” its e-commerce in recent decades. Gao Yanling became the first cure all the time. Whenever one of of frustration, but I did.” post at the city’s Dongli Education he said. As someone who planted Lan- college graduate to come back to the other children and I had a quar- Thankfully, the hardship tough- Bureau. Passionate about charity, Min has zhou lilies for nearly 10 years aft- Yuanjiawan to work. “I felt a rel, I was always the one bullied ened Min, rather than wrecking “I decided to learn from their expe- so far helped about 1,900 students er graduating from senior high sense of loss. It was like saying and laughed at because my parents him, giving him the courage to over- rience in education and manage- and hopes to help at least 10,000 school in 1979, Gao knows better farewell to another life.” weren’t with me,” said the 40-year- come challenges and show kindness ment and tried my best to connect during his lifetime. He was elected than most the hard work of Her work was not easy at first. old. to others in difficulty. my hometown and Tianjin,” he said. chairman of the Lintan Charity farming, especially delicate lil- She had to reorganize the man- Poverty nearly put an end to After enrolling in Northwest Min was amazed at the great dif- Association in June 2020. ies, which require high-quality agement and structure of the Min’s education the year he was Normal University in Gansu’s capi- ference between education in Tian- “I hope that charity work can be soil and take about nine years to Sweet Lily Co, which had been ejected from senior high school. tal Lanzhou in 2000, Min persuad- jin and his village. “Whenever I had standardized, with defined regula- produce their first real harvest. set up by villagers in 2004. “My family was too poor to cover ed his peers to give free lectures to the chance to visit schools in Tianjin, tions and management teams to In the 1980s, the crop didn’t She successfully replaced it my tuition fee, which was around poverty-stricken students in Lintan I found that there were gaps between ensure that it becomes a long-term, bring in much money, and villag- with the Baiyu Flagship Store in 200 yuan ($68) back then. So my over the summer and winter holi- urban areas and the countryside in sustainable sector,” he said. “Also, I ers had to transport their pro- the spring of 2014. Five young vil- parents had to borrow money from days. About 500 students benefited terms of education,” he recalled. hope that we can foster more talent duce by bicycle or mule early lagers joined the operation, sell- relatives and friends to help me from these voluntary lessons dur- To help students in his home in Lintan. As long as we have talent each morning to markets in Lan- ing fresh and dried lilies. They continue,” he said. ing his college years. county gain access to experienced here, the place can develop in a sus- zhou, the province’s capital, didn’t receive a single order the “I still remember that in my first Min’s kindness didn’t stop there. teachers, Min worked hard to set tainable way.” which is around 20 kilometers first month and only sold a kilo- year of senior high school, I failed In 2008, when a devastating earth- up online classes so that teachers from Yuanjiawan. gram of fresh lilies the second. an interview for a school show just quake hit Sichuan’s Wenchuan in Tianjin could give lessons to Contact the writers at In the late 1980s, the then vil- She said business got better in because of my worn-out clothes. It’s county, Min, at the time a postgrad- students in Lintan. [email protected] lage Party secretary, Zhang the fall of that year, when they Zongzhong, encouraged villag- landed their then biggest custom- ers to expand their sales to Bei- er, a company from Hong Kong. jing, where the lilies could be “They were happy with our Dance manager promotes culture at home and away sold for a price several times products, but their way of pay- higher than what they fetched in ment triggered a quarrel between Lanzhou. They were even sold myself and my father,” she said. By CHENG SI in Beijing achievements, Cheng has also for a while to southern cities in “The company planned to pay in and MA JINGNA in Lanzhou made great effort to take perform- Guangdong province, including three installments. I had a very ances overseas, to allow foreign Guangzhou and Shenzhen. serious talk with my father and Dancing is not only the career audiences to experience the beauty This raised incomes, but the finally convinced him, because the Cheng Hong is passionate about, it is of traditional Chinese culture. good times did not last long. order was quite important to us.” her way of telling Gansu province’s With peers from the Lanzhou Yuanjiawan lost some of its mar- The village opened its own story to audiences at home and Grand Theater, she has performed ket and sales diminished when online flagship store in 2018, abroad. Dameng Dunhuang in over 50 cit- in 2000, nearby villagers also launching a website for the first Born in northwest Shaanxi pro- ies worldwide, generating about began planting the crop. time. Just one year later, reve- vince, the 50-year-old is now depu- 100 million yuan ($15.6 million) That was when Gao returned nues reached 7 million yuan ($1.1 ty general manager of the Lanzhou from 1,500 performances. to Yuanjiawan, giving up his million). Now, there are 30-plus Grand Theater in Gansu, and has Cheng also won support from the dried lily factory in Lanzhou in households in Yuanjiawan work- been involved in organizing dance China National Arts Fund to stage response to the problems the vil- ing in lily processing factories. performances for a number of the show at the David H. Koch The- lagers were facing. Some had Gao Yanling has also reached momentous anniversaries over the ater in New York’s Lincoln Center even stopped growing and a tacit understanding with her years. in early January last year. found jobs in northern cities. father, and has begun to appreci- “I learned to dance in my child- “Dameng Dunhuang is my favor- “It would be a pity to abandon ate his love of farmland and lil- hood and I really love it. It’s a pro- ite dance drama that I’ve been lilies,” he said when he became ies. “He believes what he does is fession that requires a strong will Cheng Hong invites a guest to leave remarks after a performance in involved in, and I have some sweet village Party secretary in 2002. worthwhile, and his work in and faith,” she said. Frankfurt, Germany, in 2017. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY memories of our trips overseas,” He then set about finding ways turn nurtures him spiritually, Cheng’s hard work has paid off. she said. “I remember that when to recapture the village’s former keeping him passionate and In 2018, with a troupe of other per- we performed in Germany in 2017, share of the market. enthusiastic,” she said. formers, she was invited to put on a Because of her professionalism making rehearsal times, even there was an audience member He approached Lanzhou Uni- show of Dameng Dunhuang — a and diligence, Cheng was then departure times, vary constantly,” who showed us a photo album of versity for help to improve their Contact the writers at folk dance telling the love story of an selected as a team leader to help she said. his experiences in Lanzhou after lily-drying methods, which soon [email protected] artist and the daughter of a general organize a performance celebrat- Cheng was also responsible for the show.” in Dunhuang, inspired by murals in ing the 70th anniversary of the psychological counseling for team “He was like an old friend telling the city’s renowned Mogao Grottoes founding of the PRC in 2019. members who lost their appetites us his story in China. It was amaz- — for the Shanghai Cooperation “I was so excited to be given the or had problems sleeping due to ing,” she added. “I felt very proud Organization Qingdao Summit in mission, and also very proud to be the intense schedule and other that our culture has won recogni- eastern Shandong province. part of the whole performance,” she stresses. tion from foreign friends, strength- The more than 10 days Cheng said. Still, it wasn’t easy, as Cheng “I arranged meals and made sure ening my faith to create more and her team spent rehearsing was in charge of a team of 200 they had a balanced diet every day, Chinese culture dance dramas to were not easy. They were subject to dancers. and I was concerned about their stage abroad.” strong winds and sun, as the stage In early July 2019, Cheng and her moods and emotions. Whenever As an activist promoting Chinese was set up on the city’s seafront. team arrived in Beijing to begin they had problems in life or at prac- culture through dance, Cheng said She said that at one point, wind two months’ practice for the cele- tice, I would give them advice. It that every artist can help contribute nearly blew their tents into the water, bration, which was slated for was my job, and I did the work with to people experiencing the beauty but that didn’t stop them. Their show National Day on Oct 1. pleasure,” Cheng said. of Chinese culture, from friends at in early June 2018 was a success and “The first problem was accom- Thankfully, none of her team home, to audiences abroad. earned praise from the nation’s lead- modation. The team I led had 200 members was eliminated from the Gao Zuowang prepares for a livestreaming session promoting ers and prizes from Shandong prov- dancers from three different thea- final list for the show. Contact the writers at festive goods for Chinese New Year on an e-commerce ince as reward for their efforts. ters who lived in different hotels, In addition to her domestic [email protected] platform. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY