No Chemicals in his strawberries

Wang Mian examines his strawberry crop.[Photo/China Daily]

French-trained farmer uses biotechnology to cultivate his fruits.

Wang Mian, 33, closely examines a crop of tomatoes growing inside a vast greenhouse in a Beijing suburb.

The tomatoes are a healthy green, and some have started turning red. The greenhouse is part of a larger, 294,000 square meter farm. In total, there are 38 greenhouses, and all of the fruits and vegetables are grown without pesticides and other chemicals commonly used by Chinese farmers.

"We use biological technology to cultivate healthly and pesticide-free vegetables and fruits," says Wang, cofounder of the farm Nature-dance, which was established last year.

"Agricultural products that are grown using a large amount of pesticides and hormones are a great threat to people's health, causing higher risk of diseases, and we want to do something to change the status quo."

But Wang admits that when he started thinking about establishing a high-end farm a few years ago, improving people's health was not on his mind. Instead, he only wanted to have a more relaxed lifestyle and make money.

Wang, who is from Beijing, suffers from narcolepsy, a chronic brain disorder that causes excessive sleepiness and sudden bouts of sleep that can last several seconds to minutes.

Despite his disability, Wang was a top student and studied computer science at a college in Dalian, Liaoning province. In 2004, he went to France to study economics, earning master degrees in Economic Intelligence and Enterprise Management.