Mountainous village in SW China's Sichuan thrives on rose industry

A once impoverished village in the mountainous areas of southwest China's Sichuan Province has blazed a trail to prosperity by cultivating roses for over a decade, taking on a new look.

In the past, villagers in Maoshui village, Xiaojin county, Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province earned a meager income from traditional crops, such as potatoes and corn. In 2011, Chen Wanghui, Party secretary of the village, ran into beautiful wild roses on the local mountains, which could hardly be damaged by wild animals. "Roses have high economic value. If our village can successfully cultivate them, it will have a way out," the official recalled.

The roses harvested from the farmland. (Photo/CGTN)

Chen immediately went to rose cultivation bases outside the province for research, and brought back good varieties and cultivation techniques.

Amid the villagers' concerns, party members of the village took the lead to learn about planting techniques and grow roses. With a high quality, the roses gradually brought hope to the villagers. Chen, the Party branch of the village and the villagers' committee went on to establish a rose cooperative, transformed the village's barren land into a planting base and worked on cultivation, management, primary processing and marketing.

As the village became wealthy, it put more efforts into improving the local infrastructure, attracting many tourists. Yuan Changrong, who runs a homestay hotel, earned over 100,000 yuan ($13,900) last year. "Living in this village for over 70 years, I find the changes in recent years particularly significant," said Yuan.

Now, the rose industry has become one of the pillar industries in Xiaojin county, with a cultivation area of 15,000 mu (1,000 hectares). Over 3,300 households in the county are involved in the industry, achieving an average income increase of 5,000 yuan per household.