Trading Shanghai for shepherding on grassland

Marketer uses online skills to turn Inner Mongolian mutton into money

Three months have passed since Chen Ke quit his 20,000 yuan ($3,100) a month job in Shanghai to herd sheep on the Ulgai Prairie in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

"So far, so good. I'm enjoying the life of a happy shepherd," he said.

It is already fairly cold in the Xiliin Gol League, but Chen does not plan to raise sheep during the winter. Instead, he's partnered with cold storage enterprises to sell mutton from sheep raised by local shepherds on livestreaming platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou.

"The grasslands are vast, and there is very good mutton here," he said.

When he arrived in early July, the 30-year-old bought 15 small sheep. Marketing them under the slogan of "I have sheep on the prairie", he easily found buyers for each.

"I posted two short video clips on Douyin and attracted 120 viewers interested in purchasing a sheep, but I only had 15," Chen said.

Chen set up a group chat on WeChat to post updates for his customers on how he was taking care of their sheep.

However, inexperience led to one lamb going missing and another falling badly ill, so with their owners' permission, he bought a couple of substitute lambs.

Just before the National Day (Oct 1) holiday, the sheep were slaughtered and their meat was sent to customers in Beijing, Guangzhou in Guangdong province and several other cities.

"Some of them told me that they shared their delicacy from the prairie with their families and friends, and that it was quite tasty," he said happily.

Born in Kaifeng, Henan province, Chen graduated from the Chinese language department of Henan University in 2013 and then taught Chinese in Bangkok for two years before taking up a marketing job in Shanghai.

Tired of the overtime and pressure to perform, he decided to try his hand at something new, and the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia came to mind.

He'd come into contact with the region while working on a sports project in 2016, looking into creating marathon routes. "What I found was totally different from what I'd expected. Even remote places had the infrastructure for convenient logistics and stable communications," he said.

He thought of the delicious mutton he'd eaten in Ejine Banner in the Alshaa League, and how he'd once tried to buy some for his mother from online stores but found there weren't many.

"They had good products, but no promotion. That was something I could do!" Chen said.

Chen and a friend rented a yurt, a house and a ranch on a 20 hectare plot in Ulgai and began to enjoy the shepherd's life.

Every day, he got up at 7 am. After breakfast, he took the sheep out to graze, and at 10, he brought them water.

Chen usually planned his videos in the morning, and in the afternoon, he went to town to shop or send mutton to customers. In the evening, he shot videos for social media platforms.

He is also learning to raise sheep from local herdsmen. "There are many things to learn, like why the sheep are eating grass but do not fatten up," he said.

"I also didn't know the best time to ear-tag them. Summer was definitely not the right time, as their ears all festered afterward."

But the locals are also learning from Chen, and some have asked him to help them sell sheep online.

"The head of the township government follows me on Douyin and encourages me to promote local products," he said.

Chen said he will continue raising sheep. Next spring, he has plans for a herd of 300 for customers from all over the country.

He said there's a big difference between sheep that graze on the prairie and sheep kept in pens and given feed.

"I want to promote our local brand and offer the best mutton to more customers," he said.