In Datong, success is a yellow flower

With 500,000 yuan in funding collected from a variety of sources, Zhang founded a daylily planting cooperative with seven others who had returned to the village.

They rented 33.3 hectares from 358 families in 2016 and expanded the area to 100 hectares by the end of the year.

They built a 10,000-square-meter concrete sunning ground in the village to dry the daylilies after harvest.

"We rented the land for 12,000 yuan a hectare," Zhang said. "In the past, farmers only made around 7,500 yuan per hectare when they planted corn."

They had their first harvest and good sales in 2019, producing 2,250 kilograms of dried daylilies per hectare.

During the planting season in the spring and harvest season in the summer, the cooperative hires 1,000 local farmers, greatly helping increase their incomes.

Zhang also registered a trademark for their daylilies and took their products to agricultural fairs around the country, promoting them to wholesalers and retailers.

In recent years, the cooperative has tried to find new ways to promote the business and Zhang has turned his attention to agricultural tourism.

"Our agricultural sightseeing and daylily picking package attracts 400 visitors a day at peak times," he said. "This creates about 700 new job opportunities."

They have expanded their daylily growth to some other villages in Jijiazhuang township in Datong, planting 766.7 hectares. Meanwhile, the per capita income of local farmers rose from 2,600 yuan in 2017 to 5,500 yuan last year.

"We have the confidence that the new venture will help change villagers' traditional reliance on maize, and achieve the transformation of rural industry," Zhang said.