Harvesting profits from leadership

Rural area benefits from graduate's return and her business acumen, Yang Feiyue reports.

With short, neat hair and tan skin, Qi Xiaojing beams with a glow of energy that seems to have her ready to hit the ground sprinting at anytime.

In a simple sport suit, the woman, 40, can't help smiling as she introduces a group of guests to her agricultural tourism complex.

Tomato murals and sculptures embellish the facility that the group visited late last month. The facility covers an area of 49,000 square meters in Ping'an village, Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, Hinggan League, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The facility, established in 2022, has been filled with laughter since summer arrived as children from across the country have beaten a path to Qi's happy farmland to spend their vacation.

They are seen running around and playing sports on the grasslands or engaging in craft projects under professional guidance, such as painting pebbles, creating clay sculptures or making from scratch steamed buns of various shapes and sizes.

"There's so much fun and learning in our village, from the pastures to the grasslands, where students can pull cabbage, dig celery, pick corn, and shell sunflower seeds," Qi says.

"This way, they can not only learn from outside the school but also help with farm work," she adds.

Qi has been busy these days developing short videos of her renewed summer learning tours and promoting them on the livestream platform Douyin.

"We have introduced a five-day trip and more than 300 students have come," she says, adding that she expects the number to reach 5,000 this year, about 1,600 more than last year.