Family Sells Peaches to Shake off Poverty in Shaanxi

Li Peng, carrying his sister Li Dan on his back, walks out of a store in a market in Ankang City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 19, 2020. [Xinhua/Tao Ming]

In 1997, in order to shake off poverty, Li Zengyi, a villager in Wenhua Village of Ankang City, moved his family, including his seven-year-old disabled daughter, to a makeshift house on a mountain to cultivate peaches. Li Wei, the elder son of Li Zengyi, went out to work in south China's Guangdong Province after graduation from middle school to support the family. Li Peng, the younger son, continued his study until he was graduated from college. Li Dan, the disabled daughter, studied at home in the help of the family and also learned knowledge on electronic commerce in recent years. She registered an online shop for the family's peach garden in July of 2017 to sell peaches produced here. Soon the shop received many orders from different cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou thanks to the good quality of peaches cultivated with farmyard manure. In 2018, Li Wei and Li Peng returned home to help develop the business. The family set up a company, a farm cooperative based on the peach garden named after Li Dan, and also registered a brand for it. Thereafter, the family's income has increased year by year and the makeshift house has been changed into a two-level building. The family has lifted themselves out of poverty in 2018. The peach garden's income in this year is expected to reach 250,000 yuan (about 35,357 U.S. dollars).

Li Shaochen, son of Li Wei, helps clean the ventilation holes on a packing cardboard in Wenhua Village in Hanbin District of Ankang City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 19, 2020. [Xinhua/Tao Ming]

Li Dan shows fresh peaches on a tree to a customer on WeChat at the peach garden in Wenhua Village in Hanbin District of Ankang City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 19, 2020. [Xinhua/Tao Ming]

Li Zengyi (1st L) and his family pose for a photo in Wenhua Village in Hanbin District of Ankang City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 19, 2020. [Xinhua/Tao Ming]

Li Zengyi's wife Tang Guoqun (1st R) and their daughter Li Dan (C) sell peaches at a market in Ankang City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 19, 2020. [Xinhua/Tao Ming]

(Source: Xinhua)