Category: Interview

An Interview with Ms. Lan MA, the Founder of Ta Xiang

No matter how rapidly this world changes, natural beauty and authentic art remain everlasting. Beyond all the industrial development and technology breakthroughs, the precious pieces created by artisan hands forever shine with exotic beauty and continually tell stories of another era.

From miniature painting techniques dated back to the 6th and 7th centuries to Cota silk weaving skills with 300 years of history, from gem bracelets, silk floss scarves to hand woven baskets and natural shell handbags… “Ta Xiang”, a lifestyle brand selling pure handmade products, is now bringing to China’s consumers a huge variety of unique pieces created by skillful artisans in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey. On one hand, traditional art has been revived, and on the other, the local poor female artisans gain economic independence and social identity.

The founder of Ta Xiang, Ms. Lan has had a very distinctive career path. After she got her Ph.D degree in Biochemistry from Boston, she worked in P&G, McKinsey and Dupont, mainly involved in brand marketing. Two years ago, however, she gave up her career and began a completely new chapter in her life. Together with several other women who share the same love of handmade arts, and also have rich traveling experience and cultural resources, Lan created Ta Xiang. SpaChina interviewed her. Let’s hear her talk about life, dreams, art, wellbeing and social responsibility. 

Tell us about Ta Xiang. What are your main products and who are your customers?

Ta Xiang is a lifestyle brand. It brings imported, handmade, high quality and unique lifestyle products for personal and home use to China. Each piece is exquisitely designed and painstakingly made by overseas artisans using special techniques, taking days or even months. The name Ta Xiang means ‘Her Village’ and ‘Her Community’. The brand was started by women, the products are made by women artisans and they are for women and their families.

We are a few Chinese and foreign women who have lived, worked and travelled all over the world. From faraway countries, on roads less travelled, in remote countryside areas and villages, and in hard-to-find alleys, we found delightful handcrafted objects. They carry cultures, history and stories. They connect with our hearts, touch our souls and enable our individual expressions, different from any other person. Through Ta Xiang, we wish to connect women, from city to rural areas, from the privileged to the less privileged, from creator to consumer, from dedication to appreciation, all through a common bridge of appreciation of beauty, authenticity and the magic of the human hand. 

Ta Xiang is now working with NGOs (Non-Government Organizations), Non-Profit Organizations and independent local designers to bring unique and beautiful handcrafted lifestyle products into China. Our customers are mainly educated and interested in arts and culture. Many of them are handicraft lovers. They purchase our products for personal use or as gifts because they find Ta Xiang products unique, of good quality and special. We currently mainly promote and sell products on We-shop (wei dian) and at selected designer/handicraft markets. We also collaborate with a few other brands. 

One of the major goals of Ta Xiang is to help poor female artisans realize economic independence. Could you tell us more about this?

That’s true. Although Ta Xiang is a brand for profit, at the same time, it has non-profit characteristics and socia l responsibilities. We work with overseas NGOs to help provide livelihood for those women artisans who have a low economic background, yet they are very skilled and dedicated in their crafts. We also hope to help promote the handicraft techniques, many of which are close to disappearing these days.    

In our spa world, we always emphasize the balance and unity of body and heart. In your opinion, what is the spiritual and social meaning of your present life and work?

Along my career path, I have always sought such an ideal job as this one: it matches my values and interests, and helps me improve myself. Working with Ta Xiang gives me a chance to fully display my potential capacity and enables me to achieve a balance among work, family life, children, friends and myself. This new job gives me much passion and satisfaction. Now I can focus on the things I love, do things in the manner I myself approve of and arrange my life according to my own will.

In the past, I was a perfectionist and too demanding of myself as well as of the people around me, which in fact gave me much pressure. Now I follow the Twenty-eight Law. I enjoy the process of getting better and better gradually. Now I understand more of how to enjoy the journey.

These are the things I am learning now: not wasting time thinking about or being entangled with meaningless things, not deliberately holding to the memory of the past, not worrying too much about the future; being more tolerant and calm, self-knowing and self-disciplined. If you want to achieve a balanced life, you need to know yourself, believe in yourself and spend more time with those whom you love and care for.

These are my discoveries and that is my understanding of the way to seek a balanced status of body and soul. Now with Ta Xiang, we have the chance to share beautiful products as well as the stories, cultures and histories behind the products with our customers. Likewise, our customers not only buy material things, but also join us in the appreciation of culture and art. Although we started not long ago, we have already attracted a group of loyal customers who appreciate our products and concepts.

Meanwhile, as I said, we also help women artisans who live in poor areas to achieve economic independence. We are very pleased with this.

To most people today, mass-produced products still dominate their daily lives. How do you see the development potential of pure handmade products?

I have always loved beautiful handmade things. During my corporate career of 20 years, I traveled all over the world and wherever I was, I searched for beautiful handicrafts. I found the most beautiful things in countries with rich hand-making traditions such as India, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey. Even several centuries after the Industrial Revolution with so much assembly line-produced identical finished goods, people still like handicrafts. The variety and vibrancy of handicrafts, the story and legacy they carry of human life still attract people. People immediately feel a special affinity with handicrafts as they help them to assert their unique identities and place in this world. In a stitch, through a thread, craftsmen display their unique skills. Then, the silent material world is transformed into life and meaning. Ta Xiang firmly believes that handicrafts are an art filled with warmth and soul from the very beginning. I believe that in today’s fast-moving and large-scale production era, there is great value and need to let individual, unique and handmade things come into our lives. These things are not only for utility, they also enrich our daily lives and allow us to express ourselves as individuals.

What challenges have you met while operating such a handmade brand and how do you resolve them?

A purely handmade brand has its distinctiveness and thus brings many challenges. As our products mainly come from remote foreign lands where the economy is less developed yet traditional handicraft techniques are best reserved, it is sometimes hard to guarantee a stable and large-scale supple of goods. The production cycle is subject to the artisans’ time available, the supply of raw materials and climate change. Therefore, in the last year, we have worked hard on this problem. Now we have established stable cooperation with many artisans, non-profit organizations and individual designers to guarantee the supply of products.

Another challenge comes from the market. Unlike volume production by machines, it is inevitable to see handmade traces in our products. We have tried many methods including testing the quality of the materials, but we still cannot ensure that any two product items will be completely the same. For example, our cloth products are mostly dyed with organic natural dye, such as indigo blue. So when you wash it with water for the first time, the color may fall off a little. But all these are the characteristics of handmade products. They exactly show the authenticity and charm of them. Some customers haven’t fully recognized such beauty and cannot tolerate tiny flaws or nuance. But we find that more and more Chinese people are turning from big brand machine produced products to individual brands focused on handmade products. I believe the trend will keep developing and more people will fall in love with and choose handmade products which deliver warmth, culture and stories. I am very happy that we now have won many fans. Some customers have made purchases from our We-shop a dozen times already. And our return-purchase rate reaches 20%-25%.

What opinions or suggestions do you have on improving the physical and mental health of modern women?

Modern women often face much pressure from multiple aspects such as family, children and career. I think, to improve their mental and physical health, the first thing is to achieve a balance between work and personal life. We can do exercise and treatments to effectively keep our physical health and adjust our mentality to maintain mental health. Personally, I visit spas regularly. Every time after a spa treatment, all my tiredness melts away. Moreover, I have a more sober mind and a better mood. Concerning mental health, my suggestion is to leave more time to yourself so that you can know and love yourself better. Your best friend through life is no one else but yourself. Also, set a clear boundary between work and personal life. If it is beyond your ability, boldly say “no”. Our time and energy are limited, so we need to give them to the people and things we really care about. Surely, we meet annoyance and confusion now and then, but we need to try our best to avoid their influence and learn to be concerned with issues rather than individuals.

Spa also focuses on the wellbeing of women. Are you selling products at spas? If yes, how is the sales performance so far?

Yes. Ta Xiang and spas both target women customers. Likewise, as a lifestyle brand, our handmade products manifest a pursuit and passion toward quality life, just as do the spas. So we firmly believe that in the future, Ta Xiang will appear at more spas in China. At present, we have already entered Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake and are very pleased with the feedback from the spa and customers.

An interview with Ms. Grace Wu, Co-founder of Venus Concept China

Technology is now playing an extremely important role in people’s daily lives more than ever before. Likewise, the beauty industry is also seeing an irresistible trend – the emergence and rapid expansion of hi-tech medical beauty equipment. Nowadays, spas and salons can no longer make guests stay merely with traditional massages and tranquil ambiance. Beauty equipment with quick and obvious results on the skin and body have won a lot of fans. Though there is still room for improvement regarding the equipment’s professionalism, safety and comfort, their market potential cannot be denied.

In 2014, the top Israeli medical beauty brand Venus Concept entered China and soon became an industry authority with its hi-tech patents and non-invasive treatments. A key person that drove this entry and Venus Concept’s subsequent successful development in China is a beautiful young lady. She is Grace Wu, the co-founder of Venus Concept China.

Fond of challenges and new ideas, Grace began to be involved in the Asia-Pacific business scene in 1997. She has over 15 years’ marketing experience in China’s fashion and beauty industry, and is very good at integrating international resources. Since 2013, Grace has fully focused on the development of the health industry. However, two years ago, she retired from the front line. Her new goal in this stage of her life is to offer advice and support to young career beginners and those who want to start their own business. She not only shares her precious experiences but also gives encouragement and passes positive energy to them. SpaChina interviewed Grace to gain more insights into China’s medical beauty industry.

Why did you want to introduce a global medical beauty brand to China? What challenges have you met in operations, marketing and sales and how have you solved the problems?

The reason is quite simple. I was lucky to meet an ideal partner and was attracted by their proven technology and operation mode. So very quickly, I introduced the brand to China.

When a new brand enters a comparatively mature market, it means it falls behind other brands for over 10 years and no one knows about it. This is the biggest challenge for most brands which enter a new market. Venus Concept, however, had was already globally recognized by the time I brought it to China, and had become the most popular non-invasive choice in the U.S. According to my experience and observation, Venus Concept is able to deliver safe, comfortable and effective treatments to customers with its cutting-edge technology. Also, Venus Concept uses an installment financial model. The reasonable price of the equipment accessories and simple maintenance make Venus Concept equipment a steady source of profit for clients.

After the brand was introduced to China, the first task for us was to understand the market and build trust – the stage we call “new birth”. So from one aspect, we participated in exhibitions to hear the voices of our potential clients. Meanwhile, we actively communicated with KOLs. We also re-assessed our proper market positioning.

Then we came to the second stage, the sales. Our goal in this stage was to build brand awareness. We decided to center on basic skincare with key words like “fashion” and “lifestyle” because we felt this was the easiest way to penetrate the market and be accepted by customers. So we adjusted our marketing strategies and reset our team structures. In B2B business, we designed detailed treatments and did full efficiency analysis. In B2C, we attended many events related to fashion and lifestyle to promote our vision of healthy beauty.  

Now, Venus Concept has entered the third stage, development. We have set up the professional manager system, introduced innovations on marketing modes every year, and kept importing new technology. Apart from this, we have also set clearer game rules and service standards regarding distribution channels, bulk purchases and direct selling.

Nevertheless, we still encounter various new challenges in spite of all our efforts. Now five years after foundation, Venus Concept China’s market share ranks top 3 in the Venus Concept Group.  I think the biggest challenge we face today is to fix the correct strategy and execute it effectively. Only that way can we enter another stable phase. Currently, Venus Concept receives professional instructions from our overseas headquarters. 

Who are your clients? How do you carry out effective training on equipment usage?

Venus Concept targets the professional line. In China, we divide our clients into two categories, medical clients and non-medical clients. The latter category, which is more than 70% of business, includes salons, spas and 5-star hotels.

The biggest difficulties in training are ineffective communication, high staff turnover and clients’ over dependence on suppliers. To solve these problems, we have designed a 6-step training program which covers all aspects from regular training to advanced training, from incentive systems to communication platforms. Also, we check whether clients perform correct manipulation with regular visits.

What is the acceptance level of China’s customers for medical beauty equipment? How big is the demand in the market? What is the development potential of the medical beauty industry in China?

According to the data issued by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in 2017, excluding China, the global medical beauty industry showed negative growth. However, China’s medical industry experienced an over 20% increase in 2018, with a market scale of RMB 224.5 billion. Yet the take-up per capita is only 2%. So personally, I think there is still great demand potential from the market. Not only will the industry extend to 3rd and 4th tier cities, but also consumer demand and acceptance of medical beauty equipment will also greatly expand.

China’s medical beauty industry will keep double digit annual increase in the next 3 to 5 years. The major problem now is high homogeneity of the brands. So the market will move toward further segmentation and professionalization, as well as concept output.

What types of medical beauty equipment are currently most popular in China and what are the reasons?

Medical beauty equipment is categorized into invasive and non-invasive. In both categories, facial treatment is now the most popular in China, due to its mature development and high popularizing rate. However, in the global market, the consumption tendency has turned to body treatments. Meanwhile, the number of male consumers continues to rise. Equipment that targets fat loss is on the increase. It is predicted that China will soon catch up with these global trends.

What does China’s beauty industry lack at present? What changes do you think may take place in the industry in the next five years?

There are three major problems in the industry currently:

1. Lack of standardization
2. Lack of professionalism
3. Over-marketing

So I think the industry will experience big changes in the following five years:

1. More accurate market segmentation: doing what you are good at will become a trend. Technology is a key element to realize standardization.
2. More professional. To carry out more professional training is both an industry trend and a way to improve personal skills.
3. Sensible consumption. As information transparency increases, consumption will become more reasonable.

What kinds of products and services do future customers need? How can we meet their requirements?

As I mentioned, the industry will become more segmented and professionalized. Consumers will have increasingly higher requirements from the service providers. The spa and salon owners then will put their hopes on suppliers. And from the perspective of suppliers, single product categories cannot meet market demand for one-stop solutions. Therefore, it is important to form strategic alliances with other brands to complete the service scope, as well as to carry out efficient training and create innovative brand concepts.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current beauty industry in China?

China’s modern beauty industry has so far enjoyed 20 years of development. The good aspects include more sensible consumption and increasingly mature markets. The weaknesses are a lack of standards and a lack of respect for basic staff.

You have given many public lectures in the past two years. Why do you do that? What is your purpose in doing these speeches? What is the main content of the speeches?

I am very grateful that 25 years’ of working experience has connected me to so many international resources. I believe good partners and a good working team will provide great support to one’s career path. I always hope to share my resources with the new generation and help them grow better. In my work, I pay great attention to the skills improvement of my fellow team members.

The courage and experience one needs to start a business and connect with international resources will not be offered by any school. Neither will the competitive business world have the patience to wait for you. So in 2017, I moved away from the frontline and began to give lectures on young people’s career planning and business startups. During the past two years, the lectures I have given were mainly organized by non-profit organizations. Many of their staff are volunteers. Through my speeches, I aim to inspire courage and confidence in the listeners, as well as share with them important working skills, self-improvement methods and industry information.

Who are the targets of the lectures? What is their response? What kind of things are they looking for from your speech? What can they learn?

The lectures I attend target young people who are just beginning their jobs and those who want to start a business. Sometimes, I also give female-only lectures.

To the new generation, one of the biggest obstacles comes from their families. They want to do something different, but their parents are reluctant. To those who want to start their own business, the biggest problem is how to keep their original vision and confidence in such a competitive business world. To females, they are often concerned about how to achieve a balance between different roles. Besides that, they also share with me their joys and successes.

So in fact I play several different roles in the process. Sometimes I am a listener, sometimes I share my experience, or give them encouragement, and other times I give them as much support as I can. Most importantly, we enjoy this way of passing positive energy to each other.

Personally, how do you keep a sound physical and mental state?

I am an advocate of healthy beauty. So over the years, I keep doing exercises and eating healthily. I also depend on safe equipment and quality products to help me. Besides that, reading, traveling and giving public-beneficial lectures are always the source of my mental satisfaction.

An interview with Ms. Lin Ying, Managing Director of Hong Kong Royal Padma Group Co., Ltd

When the concept of “health” floods people’s lives with innumerable new terms of healthy foods, healthy travel, healthy wearables and more, people sometimes get lost and forget what a truly healthy life should be about. Ms. Lin Ying is seeking the answer.

Ms. Lin was once a journalist in the mainstream media in the east China port city of Xiamen, before later moving to the business world of Hong Kong, gaining rich experience in international trade and logistics. But her career path totally changed when in 2013 she met for the first time with the precious blue lotus (Padma) and was amazed by its pure beauty and health enhancement value. Later, she found an ancient vast rice terrace system covering an entire mountainside in Chishui city of Guizhou Province. She decided to start her blue lotus project there. Through this bold experiment, Lin Ying brings to people a wide range of healthy options centered on the precious blue lotus. Moreover, she creates many job opportunities for the local people and gives new life to the ancient terraces, which would otherwise have been deserted. SpaChina interviewed Ms. Lin Ying, to hear more about the blue lotus story and her understanding about healthy life.

What are the reasons that motivated you to start blue lotus (Padma) cultivation and the relevant health product development? Is this your first project in the wellness industry? 

The story began in the fall of 2013 when I traveled in Taiwan with several friends. Having visited the Taipei Palace Museum, Shilin Official Residence and Yang Ming Shan, we were no longer interested in the busy city center or the night market. We decided to drive to Chao Hsi Hot Spring in Taichung where we saw an advanced pig breeding farm, and a most traditional dairy farm. Finally, our guide, who is a close friend, said: “Now I will take you to the Lotus Villa to enjoy the lotus delicacy.” The blue lotus paddy field was owned by Mr. Chen and it has been henceforth deeply engraved in my heart.

It was a warm fall day. The sunshine poured down on the fields by the Pacific coast. Mr. Chen picked some full blooming yellow and blue lotus for us. We then sat down around a stone table under a tree and made a pot of fragrant lotus tea. The lotus spread across the water with brilliant colors. After enjoying several cups, Mr. Chen, with a big smile, asked me to stretch out my hands. He took the lotus out of the teapot and pinched the flower’s stem. Suddenly, the pure natural collagen of the flower flowed down the back of my hand. “Wipe it on your face and neck!” he urged excitedly. This was my first time of having a collagen facial out in the open.

With my skin fully nourished, I then enjoyed a lotus pot meal (one pot for one person) at the Lotus Villa. After the meal, Chen again offered us a pot of fresh tea. The blue flowers were unfolding in the boiling water. Meanwhile his mother served up a plate of egg rolls and we could still see the petals in them. Afterwards, to my even greater surprise, there was lotus ice cream in pure yellow and blue colors made from fresh lotus without any addition of artificial flavors or sweetener. Chen’s mother told us that they made only 200 lotus ice cream portions every day and it always fell short of demand because all the neighbors loved it.

When we again passed the lotus pond on that sunny afternoon at our departure, I discovered that the huge lotus leaves’ were curling upward a little bit. Chen explained to me the reason. Every fall, when the wild ducks and migratory birds begin their southward migration, they stay on the warm lotus leaves during the night and the leaves curl up to warm them. The next morning, the birds swim or fly away but some of them might come back again in the evening. They choose a new leaf every time. Some of them enjoy the place so much that they even forgot to journey to the south.

Chen said to us, pointing at the three-story villa where we had the lotus dish: “More and more visitors come here and are reluctant to leave. So we have had to move to our old houses a little far away and ride here every day by motorcycle.”

In the past, Chen was a teacher in a school and his dad was a clothes maker. But afterwards, they fully devoted themselves to the paddy fields handed down from previous generations and started their happy and poetic life.

After this first encounter, I returned several more times. A thought always lingered in my mind: What is a true healthy product? What is a true healthy experience? Starting to eat so-called healthy food at the age of 70 or 80 years old? Everyone should be responsible for their own life and we need to find the answers ourselves.

Why did you choose blue lotus and Bao Yuan Terraces? Does this ancient terrace have any significant meaning to you?

As this idea of healthy lifestyle emerged in my heart, I began my study of blue lotus. Blue Lotus, also known as Padma, is a multispecies hydroponic plant of nymphaeaceae. According to ancient Chinese medical books, blue lotus works at the heart meridian channel and the liver meridian channel of the human body. It helps to improve sleep quality, calm the nerves, protect the heart and liver, expel toxins and nourish the skin.

As a plant that can be eaten, drunk and applied to the skin directly, blue lotus has a strict requirement in terms of the planting environment. Although China boasts vast areas of agricultural land but, after several decades of industrial development, it is not easy to find purely clean land. On another trip, I happen to visit Chishui district of Guizhou Province. There was no industry along the clear Chishui River, which feeds the Bao Yuan Terraces located 400 meters above sea level. The terraces affected me deeply with their unique river valley land formation. It was during the Spring Festival, the mid-winter, but before my eyes, I only saw green mountains and fresh water, as well as warm sunshine. The vast terraces seemed to have been waiting for the blue lotus since they had been built at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty nearly 2,000 years ago.

For various reasons, these terraces couldn’t support the local people’s livelihood any longer, so most of the young adults of the area went out to work elsewhere with only the elderly and the children and the handicapped left there. Consequently, it became a poverty-stricken village. Faced with the nearly-deserted fields, I decided to do something so that the blue lotus which I had met at Mr. Chen’s home could bloom in Bao Yuan Terraces which not only boast a long history, but also feature an ideal cultivation environment. Equally important, the terraces are really in need of help. 

What types of health products have you developed based on blue lotus? Who are your target customers? Compared to other health products of the same type in the market, what are the unique points of blue lotus products?

When the blue lotus was seeded in Bao Yuan Terraces, experts from the Agricultural Products Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture came to see them. Pleased with the large-scale plantation of such a rare species, they also carried out sample inspection on the blue lotus, planting soil and irrigation waters. The results showed that there was no heavy metal in the soil; the water source reached the second level of quality; and the active elements of blue lotus was rich in plant collagen, anthocyanin, quercetin, alkaloid and flavone, all of which are precisely what is needed by the human body. Working together with scientific research teams, enterprises, and industry experts, we have developed the following ranges of products based on blue lotus.

Healthy food: blue lotus tea, blue lotus food (flower pie, flower egg roll, flower candy, flower ice cream and flower hot pot). Wellness products: blue lotus pure hydrolat, blue lotus medical cold compress, blue lotus anti-blue light cold compress, blue lotus eye cream, blue lotus repair serum, blue lotus sun cream…Leisure products: blue lotus wardrobe sachet, blue lotus car pendant, blue lotus fresh cut flowers.

These products are unique for their abundant natural and active elements which benefit health greatly, and are very different from products with additives sold in the market. We honor natural wellness and have our loyal customers who have need of quality wellness products and experiences.

For example, when we developed the blue lotus medical cold compress, we used blue lotus pure hydrolat to replace ionized water. The anthocyanin contained in blue lotus can effectively ease pain, diminish inflammation, remove scars and acne, as well as play amazing functions in terms of skin injury repair, sunburn repair, and health maintenance after hormone injections.

What are your sales channels? How is the feedback from the market?

We are continually developing, producing and launching products into the market. We mainly sell our products through intracompany platforms, client networks and partner platforms. We are still at the beginning phase and are updating our product portfolio. Nevertheless, I have confidence that blue lotus products will be recognized by the market.

Have you joined hands with spas to enhance the beauty and wellness experience of customers with your products?

I believe that blue lotus products will renew people’s spa experience. For example, blue lotus tea and food offer new options for spa-goers. Blue lotus bathing is another great choice and the plant collagen can be further applied to nourish the body after bathing. For facials, we have Blue Lotus Pure Hydrolat which can be used through cold/hot compress, sprinkling or steaming. After the massage, therapists can wipe the Blue Lotus Serum on guests’ skin for repair and nourishment. We are now seeking opportunities to cooperate with spas.

How do you develop the leisure sightseeing/wellness tourism programs centering on blue lotus terrace and other local resources?

The Bao Yuan Terraces are now magnificently clothed in a sea of blooming blue lotus, which attracts increasing numbers of visitors who come to enjoy the sights and the lotus tea. In addition to blue lotus cultivation and product development, we also focus on resort construction around the terraces. The major part is a group of low-rise villas of low density and high privacy which are perfectly blended into the green mountains and clear waters. The aim is to meet the wellness requirements of modern visitors who seek relaxation, stress relief and healthy travel.

What developmental phase has the wellness sightseeing program reached?

We have applied to the relevant departments and have gained approval to launch the program. Currently, we are working on the overall construction plan. There are already industry people, visitors, and enterprises who show great interest in the program. They have also concretely told us their expectations and requirements.

What wellness products and experience do modern customers want?

I would list three examples.

1. I once met an overseas returnee architect, born in the 1980s who said: “My ideal life is like this. I will buy a big area of land in a bamboo forest and build a cottage which faces broad rice terraces and a sea of flowers. Every morning, I get up to enjoy the dew and pick the flowers for my salad. Every evening, I rest under a curtain of stars and fall asleep in the frogs’ croak.”
2. I have a friend from Hong Kong, born in the 1970s, whose job is an English Translator. She came to the terraces twice and then gave up the idea of buying a house in Hong Kong. On the contrary, she would like to live here in the blue lotus villas with her husband and daughter once construction is completed. She said: “How carefree I am when I stay here! Why should I go back to Hong Kong to be tormented by the tiring life? In the future, I will come here to pick plant collagen myself and say goodbye to the industrialized city.” She also loves our blue lotus medical cold compress very much.
3. In the summer of 2018, a group of travelers came here from Chongqing. They said that originally they had planned to buy holiday houses along the Chishui River, but now they gave up the idea and were waiting for the blue lotus villas construction work to be completed. They said they would each buy one villa and spent their sunset years here. That is also my wish…

The blue lotus project is also known as an anti-poverty project. What support and help have you offered to the local people?

When the blue lotus were seeded in the Bao Yuan Terraces, it offered many job opportunities to the local villagers and gave them the wish to work here instead of going away to the big cities. Moreover, it is a good experience to cultivate the land handed down from their own forefathers. The lowest salary working on the terraces is 3,500 yuan a month, while the poverty line set by the government is also 3,500 yuan a year. It means that as long as you have the will to work here, you can surely say goodbye to poverty. There are some women who stay in the village because of their children’s education. Maybe they don’t have experience or strength to do farm work, but they can pick flowers, do cleaning, or help with the good processing.

From your perspective, what are the most valuable things that your project has brought to the local region, the local people and the extensive customers respectively?

The blue lotus project is a new industry mode since we combine three industries together. First of all, we have brought new life to the deserted terraces, a cultural heritage from the end of Eastern Han Dynasty, by planting blue lotus here. We don’t apply fertilizer or chemicals, and keep absolutely an natural plantation which helps to restore the dynamic of the land. Secondly, we do local processing and send the raw materials to certified enterprises for production. Thirdly, we construct wellness resorts. The village enjoys convenient transportation. There are four airports within a 40 mins to 2-hour drive. And the highway network has reached every county now. Overall, the project brings new industries, more consumption and wellness development. All these are big advantages.