Wang Qi is a native of Yushan Island, in Fuding, a city in Southeast China's Fujian Province. When she was a little girl, she dreamed of "escaping" the island. Why? She dreamed of starting a new life elsewhere. However, she changed her mind after she grew up. She began working as a translator with a foreign-trade company in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, soon after she completed her university studies in 2014. Five years later, she quit her well-paid job to return home to become a goatherd.
"My father had herded goats in the mountain for more than 10 years," recalls Wang. "During the first year after I returned home to herd goats, a typhoon attacked the island. Fearing our goats' shed (on the mountain) would be too fragile to withstand the storm, I decided to go up the mountain to take care of our goats. Eventually, my dear old man went up the mountain to see the goats, braving the furious wind and heavy rain."
Soon after that, Wang and her father decided to rebuild the goats' shed. With financial support from the local government, they built a comfortable, modern home for their goats. Now, their goat farm is open to traffic, and the goats' pen is surrounded by a fence. It is amazing the goat house is equipped with an "automatic water dispenser," from which the goats can drink water by touching the dispenser with the tips of their noses. So far, Wang and her father have built four goats' sheds (to keep more than 800 goats), which occupy more than 1,100 square meters.
In 2014, Wang's family established Jingcai Goat Breeding Cooperative. During the past several years, Wang has helped other villagers realize their dreams of getting rich through hard work. She has also hired disadvantaged rural residents, including those who have small incomes and elderly villagers who live alone, to breed goats for the cooperative.
During the past few years, Wang has promoted Yushan's goats via livestreaming events. She has also opened a mutton hotpot restaurant in downtown Fuding.
"We have faced various difficulties, since we began breeding goats on the island. However, I believe breeding goats will have bright business prospects. Every year, numerous tourists, from various regions of the country (including Fujian, Zhejiang and Shanghai), visit Yushan. In an effort to promote my hometown's rural vitalization, I'll try my best to promote goat breeding, by taking advantage of Yushan's tourist resources. For example, I will conduct various parent-child activities (among visitors to Yushan), including encouraging them to feed the goats," says Wang.
(Women of China English Monthly October 2022 issue)
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