Qian Yuanling (L) shows her piched vegetables to netizens. [Xinhua/Zhou Mu]

Qian Yuanling is somewhat of a celebrity in Gongyi, a village in Nangang, a town in Liu'an, a city in East China's Anhui Province. Why? Many villagers consider Qian, who sold agricultural and sideline products (produced by local farmers) through live online shows, to be one of the town's top women who got rich by developing their own businesses. During the past few years, Qian has helped many rural residents get rich by providing training, to help them improve their farming and breeding skills. She has proven, with her actions, the value of remembering one's original dream — and following one's heart.

Qian has a tight daily schedule, as she has to pick vegetables and eggs, and feed sheep, chickens and other animals, all the while using two mobile phones to live broadcast her activities. She also interacts with netizens, to promote agricultural and sideline products. Given her efforts to promote the products, both online and offline, in recent years, many of Shucheng (a county in Liu'an)'s special agricultural products have sold well in many large cities in the country.

In 2006, Qian established her family's farm (in Gongyi), on which she and her family grow fruits and vegetables, and breed poultry and domesticated animals. Given her efforts to improve her production and business-management skills, the farm has generated a considerable profit over the years. In recent years, the farm has been named both a national experimental base to help women escape poverty and a provincial-level, experimental rural resident family farm.

Qian Yuanling feeds chickens at her farm. [Xinhua/Zhou Mu]

In 2020, Qian began selling the farm's products through live online shows. As she discovered many netizens were interested in rural life, she live broadcast her daily activities (including doing farm work and feeding animals). As an increasing number of netizens have watched her shows, Qian has become an Internet celebrity.

In 2018, she set up a workshop (in Gongyi), to employ the villagers to process and sell her farm's products. Given the sound development of the farm, Qian has been able to employ more than 100 residents of neighboring villages.

In 2019 and 2020, the farm provided training to impoverished residents in Nangang and neighboring areas, to help them improve their farming and breeding skills. As the residents have applied what they have learned in production, many of them have realized their dreams of getting rich through hard work.

In 2020, Nangang and Shucheng women's federations established a micro-sized women's home (on Qian's family's farm). The home provides legal assistance and rights-protection services to women, offers courses to help them find work and/or start a business, and conducts various family cultural activities.

Qian believes residents of Nangang will have a better tomorrow. "I'll lead women (in my hometown) in producing more, better agricultural and sideline products, to do my bit to promote the town's poverty alleviation and rural vitalization," Qian has been quoted as saying.

Qian Yuanling (2nd, L) introduces the operation of the farm to rural residents. [Xinhua/Liu Junxi]

(Source: Xinhua/Women of China English Monthly July 2021 issue)