Original title: "New Farmers" Returning to the Mountain

Anhui Daily reporter Xu Guokang/photographer Tao Yanyan/article

On May 16, the reporter came to Tianzhu Mountain Scenic Area, Qianshan City, Anhui Province. There is an antique resort called Wolong Villa 300 meters away from the Dalongwo Tourist Center. As a world geological park, the main peak of Tianzhu Mountain is 1489.8 meters high. Wolong Mountain Villa is located at 800 meters above sea level, halfway up the Tianzhu Mountain, at the top of Tianzhu Village, Shuihou Town, Qianshan City, and also the first mountain home stay in the region.

In 2009, Ge Jielin, who works in other places, keenly observed the cultural and tourism potential of his hometown Tianzhu Mountain and decided to return to his hometown to start his own business. As a pioneer in the local homestay industry, he led his workers to build roads, wires and pipes, and built Wolong Villa brick by brick. From a 3-storey wooden building at the beginning, it now has 48 rooms. This year's "May Day" holiday, Wolong Mountain Villa received more than 800 dining tourists and 350 accommodation tourists, a record high. All this has something to do with his "post-95" daughter, Ge Xiangyu.

On May 17, Ge Xiangyu called Shanghai tourists to discuss Chinese food reservations. It is the peak season of Tianzhu Mountain tourism, and local home stay bookings are very popular.

The name Ge Xiangyu sounds very boyish. She said with a smile that she had taken a good name before her father was born. It's not that he prefers sons to daughters, but as a native of Tianzhu Mountain, Ge Jielin hopes that his children must fly out of the mountain to see the vast world outside. After finishing the fourth grade in the village primary school, Xiangyu had to stay in the town primary school. His father was reluctant, so the whole family moved down the mountain to make a living. But every weekend, Xiangyu would take her to climb the mountain road for an hour and a half to visit her grandmother in the village. Her father's idea of filial piety also deeply affected her.

Her parents have always tried to give her the best education. From Qianshan Middle School to Yezhai Middle School to Beijing Normal University, Ge Xiangyu has always been the pride of her family. After graduation, Ge Xiangyu first worked in Hefei for a year. In 2020, when the epidemic hit, Wolong Mountain Villa's business suffered a serious decline. She often saw her father sitting under the big osmanthus tree in the villa in the middle of the night in a daze. She couldn't bear it, so she quit working in a large enterprise and returned to the village as a "new farmer".

On May 16, Ge Xiangyu seized the opportunity to serve food and listened to the tourists' opinions and suggestions on the Wolong Mountain Villa homestay.

During the epidemic, there were no customers. Ge Xiangyu's first initiative was to process the "firewood sticks" that people in the mountains didn't want into original clothes hangers and sell them live on the network platform. "One is three or four hundred, and dozens of them were sold at that time. The elder sisters thought it was incredible, and the useless people in Shuzhaozi also thought it was good." Xiangyu said that poor information, poor resources, and poor aesthetics were all business opportunities. Although the villa is located in a big mountain, the guests are all outside the mountain, the province and even abroad. In addition to making good use of the good mountains and water in our hometown, it is also important to keep pace with the times in the service industry.

She changed the previous "business" model and focused on connecting with people with health care needs. In 2022 and 2023, the Villa won the titles of Anhui Forest Health Care Base, Anhui Staff Health Care Base and National Farmers Sharing Field School. She also pays attention to the creation of cultural soft power. A series of writer studios and literary and artistic creation bases have been set up in the Villa. Artists have come here to collect and create a lot of masterpieces, which has also improved the popularity of Wolong Villa.

On May 16, Ge Xiangyu came to the home stay in Aige Mountain Villa and talked happily with partner Li Jie while walking. They shared the idle old houses of 6 local villagers and invested more than 2 million yuan to transform them into boutique homestays.

When the operation of the villa gradually entered the right track, Ge Xiangyu began to build the second phase tea garden project. She bought a 500 mu tea garden in the village and started selling it through the customer base and online live broadcast accumulated over the years. "Our tea in Tianzhu Mountain has the air of clouds, streams and mountains. When we come to Wolong Mountain Villa, we can soak the Maofeng of Tianzhu Mountain with the water of Xiangshui River, and have a wonderful experience of talking with mountains."

Today, Wolong Mountain Villa has been developing for 15 years. Driven by Wolong Mountain Villa, more and more villagers have converted their ancestral houses into B&Bs, and businessmen from Fujian and Hunan have invested in the Tianzhu Mountain B&B industry. Wanshan B&B group has gradually formed. Ge Xiangyu has also served as the deputy secretary general of Qianshan B&B Association.

On May 16, Ge Xiangyu was broadcasting live, using the Internet to expand the sales channels of agricultural products in his hometown.

Ge Xiangyu, who is busy all day long, will soon become a novice mother, but most of the time he is still busy in the villa. He will go down the mountain to have an prenatal examination every two weeks. When asked whether she preferred the city or the mountain village, she smiled and said, "The city and the mountains and rivers are beautiful in each way." Even though she was in the month, she did not worry. This year, she recruited a new 99 year old girl who just graduated from university, and she is training hard.

We will accelerate the building of a contingent of modern "new farmers" and unleash new momentum for rural revitalization. High mountains do not refuse gravel, rivers do not choose small streams. As long as there is passion for struggle, wherever there is a youth stage for entrepreneurship enthusiasm!