In Yurunzhuang village, Houjiaying town, Tianjin's Jizhou district, a colorful sea of Chinese roses sway in the cool autumn breeze. A batch of flowers is waiting to be transported to Beichen district and Binhai New Area to decorate the districts in time for the National Day holiday.
Li Yingying, the woman in charge of Xinyi Garden Greening Engineering Co, is a local from Houjiaying town in Jizhou district. After graduation from Tianjin Agricultural University in 2015, she returned to her hometown and began cultivating Chinese roses.
Like most entrepreneurs, Li has faced challenges in starting her own business and supporting the rural revitalization of her hometown. Technical issues such as poor temperature control, excessive moisture content in the soil and insect infestations combined to shake Li's confidence.
Eventually, after three years' study and research at the large-scale flowers nursery bases in Henan and Yunnan provinces and with the support of local government authorities, Li made breakthroughs in cultivation techniques and mastered scientific breeding techniques tailored to local conditions.
Since 2018, Li's rose planting scale has reached 38 mu (2.53 hectares) and she has signed supply agreements with more than 20 landscaping and municipal construction companies, supplying not only the surrounding markets of Jizhou and Baodi districts but also selling to various architectural design projects in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and even China's northeast. The annual income of the company can reach 400,000 yuan ($56,765), with more than 30 villagers working for it.
"We will continue to expand our sales channels, increase employment opportunities and lead more local villagers onto the path to prosperity," Li says.