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Young Chinese woman wins praise for helping villagers increase their income by developing a local bee breeding industry

(People's Daily Online) 16:02, May 13, 2021

Yuan Xiaomei, a woman born after 1990, has recently won praise from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, for her contribution to thickening the pockets of villagers through the development of a local bee-keeping business.

A screenshot taken from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying’s Twitter account shows that she tweeted on May 7 on Yuan Xiaomei’s story of helping local villagers to develop a bee breeding industry in her hometown.

"With persistence and love for organic honey, a young girl helped the villagers in her mountainous hometown develop a bee breeding industry worth nearly one million yuan annually ($154,5537) in Nayong County, southwest China's Guizhou Province," the spokeswoman tweeted on May 7, extending high praise to Yuan for her efforts.

"I was so thrilled when my friend told me that the spokeswoman gave me a thumbs up. After winning her recognition, I become more determined than ever to ensure the quality of my products and help more villagers achieve prosperity through the business,” Yuan said jauntily.

According to Yuan, her keen interest in beekeeping dates back to her childhood when honey was a luxury for both her family and local people. So she always had a dream of keeping bees and hoped one day to be able to afford organic honey.

Photo shows Yuan Xiaomei working at her bee breeding base. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

In 2019, after five years of working in southeast China’s Fujian province, Yuan returned to her hometown and established a bee breeding base, a move which initially was frowned upon by her friends and family members.

"Since there had never been a beekeeper in my family, they were worried about my lack of experience in the trade. But I was highly motivated and firmly believed that I would succeed somehow," Yuan explained, adding that for her, the pleasant ecological environment in her hometown also served as a plus for developing her new business.

Yuan learned her beekeeping skills from the internet and books, as well as a number of experts. She encountered countless difficulties during the process of keeping the bees, not to mention having been stung by bees many times. However, all her arduous efforts eventually paid off, with the young woman securing sales revenues for her honey adding up to more than 200,000 yuan in 2019.

Photo shows Yuan Xiaomei and her father working at her bee breeding base. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Yuan explained that word-of-mouth and live-streaming marketing helped her to generate more and more customers. The annual production of honey at her bee breeding base now exceeds 1,000 kilograms, with a total estimated output value of 400,000 yuan.

After Yuan gained a reputation as a skilled beekeeper among residents in nearby villages, she began to share her beekeeping skills with the villagers free of charge.

Yuan has successfully explored domestic and foreign markets and helped over 200 households in the surrounding villages develop a bee breeding industry with a combined annual output value of nearly 1 million yuan.

Photo shows Yuan Xiaomei advertising her honey products during a live-streaming session. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

According to Yuan, in the past, when villagers were engaged solely in agriculture, their annual income was only about 10,000 yuan. But they can now earn as much as 70,000 to 80,000 yuan per year through the addition of honey production.

"The supply of my honey has always been unable to meet demand. So I can offer help to villagers who have difficulty with selling their own honey,” Yuan said.

Photo shows Yuan Xiaomei sharing beekeeping skills with local villagers. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

She still has many future plans, including providing training for more villagers and offering guidance for more people to enter into the apiculture industry, in this way supporting people to improve their lives. 

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)

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