Source: I Su Net
【Editor's Note】
They, born in 1997, coincided with the prosperity of the world, the same age as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
They, who grew up in 1997, have undergone great changes and kept pace with the times;
They, developed in 1997, have ideals and are in the same heartbeat as the motherland.
Twenty-five years have passed, and they have left a distinct mark of the times.
Moving forward and serving the construction of the motherland is their common choice.
In order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Jiangsu Radio and Television Station I Su Network planned to launch the "Hello! I am from 1997" series of media reports, with real lenses and delicate brushstrokes to show the young people's vivid growth stories and wonderful struggle experiences, and deeply record their sincere dreams of working together with the motherland and chasing a better future.
June in Guangdong is rainy. The reporter set off from The county seat of Huaiji in Zhaoqing and circled the mountain road for more than an hour to reach the Xingang Forest Farm Alpine Green Tea Garden at an altitude of 1,000 meters, which is where Yu Wei works and lives.
The weather in the mountains is changeable, one will rain like a pillar, and the other will see the sun. Such weather is no stranger to Yu Wei, a Hong Kong youth who has been in the mountains for eight years. After picking up the reporter, he skillfully drove through the mountains, "If you encounter a landslide or a mudslide, you will be in trouble." Small trees can be pressed down when they fall, but large trees that fall down and stop in the middle of the road cannot pass." Yu Wei skillfully held the steering wheel while looking into the rearview mirrors on both sides.
Give up public office in Hong Kong and choose to start a business on the mainland
Born in Hong Kong in 1986, Yu Wei still remembers the night of Hong Kong's return to The Motherland on July 1, 1997, when he was in the fourth grade of primary school, he and his family sat huddled on the sofa together, watching the five-star red flag rising at the Golden Bauhinia Square in WanChai, Hong Kong, and his little heart was inexplicably filled with excitement and pride.
Since then, in Yu Wei's heart, he has planted the seeds of family and country feelings. After graduating from Studying in Canada in 2006, he was admitted to Jinan University in Guangzhou for undergraduate studies, and actively integrated into the exchange and study of mainland culture.
"At that time, I was the vice president of the student union of the School of Journalism and Communication, and in my spare time, we Hong Kong students played basketball and cooperated with mainland students, and shuttled through the streets of Guangzhou, and at that time, I felt that there was no difference between the cultures of the two places, and I was also very able to integrate into local life."
In 2014, Yu Wei received an offer of employment from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong and is about to become a full-fledged public official. On the day he got his employment notice, his father gave him a choice question: "Do you want to choose a career to work in the mainland, or a stable job in Hong Kong?" ”
It turned out that Yu Wei's father had invested in a 700-acre tea garden in Huaiji County, Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, as early as 1993. At this time, the father hopes that his son can take over the career in his hands and open up a new world of life.
Yu Wei and father
"Agriculture is a hard job, heavy production, high risks, long return cycle, psychological and physical tests, but the development of agriculture in the interior is promising, if you are willing to accept this challenge, you can go!" 」 The father looked at him: "Think carefully for yourself." ”
Standing at the crossroads of life, Yu Wei only took two hours in the two-day deadline given by his father to make a choice: give up the "iron rice bowl" of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption, accept the challenge to go to the mainland, and take over the tea garden in his father's hands.
The second from the left is Yu Wei
"Seeing a career with development and a vision, I think I should try it more." Because doing business will bring me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction; Moreover, I can also go back to the mainland that I am familiar with and like to work and live. ”
Walking into the mountains, facing difficulties, he never gave up
More than 200 kilometers away from Hong Kong, Guangdong Da Chou Ding Nature Reserve, located in Huaiji County, Zhaoqing City, the highest altitude of 1626 meters, all year round trees are green, surrounded by clouds, fresh air, for the cultivation of frozen roof oolong provides excellent natural conditions. Yuwei's tea garden is located in the Xingang forest farm of the reserve.
Guangdong Zhaoqing Huaiji Xingang Forest Farm Patio Pit Tea Farm
Accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the big city's cars and horses, it's as quiet as another world. The electricity of the tea farm is intermittent, the mobile phone signal is suddenly and unexpectedly, the weather on the mountain changes, and even a sudden mudslide will break out, destroying the mountain road and destroying the tea farm.
He spent more than two months traveling back and forth between the tea farm and the village and town, winning the support of the forest farm, and completely solving the infrastructure problems such as power supply and communication of the tea farm; For the next three years, he spent several months with the workers in the tea farm, immersing himself in the cultivation, picking, care, fermentation, production and sale of tea leaves
and carry out drastic reforms.
Especially in the picking link, Yu Wei changed the local people's habitual "daily settlement" method, 8 o'clock out of work at 5 o'clock, everyone does more and less, but actively introduces a competition mechanism, every tea picking season from Yunnan to introduce more than 40 professional tea pickers to work in the tea farm, under their exemplary role, the local villagers found that as long as they are willing to work, the way of "settlement by the pound" at the end of the day earned nearly 100 yuan more than the previous "daily settlement" method.
Yu Wei shares tea picking skills with visitors at Tea Hill (Photo courtesy of interviewee)
New track development to create a new situation in the business
"China's six famous teas, corresponding to the color of tea leaves: white, blue, yellow, green, red, black; The color is pleasing to the eye, the taste is thousands, this is the real sense of tea. Now those teas outside, I think, only bring impact on the visual and taste, but not in the true sense of tea. ”
Hot pot, shake tea, smell incense, wash tea, cup, taste tea.
At this time, Yu Wei knew every aspect of tea picking, tea making and tea brewing, and had also obtained the professional certificate of "National Tea Evaluator".
"The craftsmanship of tea varies widely. We drink tea, not by how good his strengths are, but by the fewer shortcomings the better. When we drink tea, we can drink what links are wrong in the process of making tea by the master. ”
For tea making, Yu Wei has maintained the pure heart of a traditional craftsman from beginning to end.
When mechanical operations are more and more replacing traditional manual operations today, Yu Wei is not moved by the outside world, and always adheres to the use of traditional craftsmanship to make tea: in terms of planting and breeding, he tries to retain as much as possible from hoeing grass, fertilizing to picking tea with manual operation; In the tea making stage, in the process of withering, the experienced Yunnan tea master is still invited to bring help to pass on, through the master's control of temperature and duration, to ensure the soup color, aroma, taste and taste of tea, and to maximize the inheritance of China's tea culture for thousands of years.
This way of insisting on manual work provides as many opportunities for locals to earn income and improve their lives, so that enterprises can take on the responsibility of giving back to society.
"Farmers sometimes say: 'Your boss eats abalone, we eat sweet potatoes', and I want to break this situation and ensure the income of farmers. When the production capacity increases greatly, we and the farmers can benefit each other and be happy together. ”
In recent years, Yuwei has actively expanded its marketing channels with the help of digital technologies such as websites, online stores, and mini programs, and has continuously opened up new markets for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
He actively participated in the design of the gift box, so that people are willing to choose lighter and more delicate small packages; Jointly launched a tourism souvenir with local fruit and rice dumpling dealers, promoted and sold in airports, high-speed railways, bookstores and other crowded places, and in 2020, Gaoshan Qing series products were also selected as the top ten creative tourism souvenirs in Zhaoqing.
However, Yu Wei did not stop there. He is further advancing his "New Farmers Plan" for rural revitalization:
"Rural revitalization is closely related to my cause. I found that not only in Hong Kong and Macao, but also in the cities of the Bay Area, including some college students in the mainland, everyone does not know much about agriculture, so they lack corresponding career planning. And I think I have the obligation to correctly guide them, what is real agriculture, how impressive the future development is, we must do digital agriculture, science and technology agriculture, and strive to promote the establishment of agricultural practice education bases, as a benchmark in this regard. ”
Not only that, Yu Wei also made a long-term plan for his own next ten years, he is ready to open a youth agricultural education base in the tea field, hoping that children in Hong Kong can also come here, get closer to agriculture, understand agriculture; He is also actively preparing to build a health care base for the elderly, so that more people can enjoy the fresh air and environment in the mountains.
Speaking of Hong Kong youth if they want to come to the mainland to start a business, Yu Wei suggested: We must go more, see more, think more, and conduct our own thinking and analysis.
"Compared with Hong Kong, the Bay Area is larger, the market is larger, and the industry options are greater. Just find your own main track and maybe you'll have more side tracks. I'm willing to stay here and work with everyone. ”
Yu Wei in the tea picking season on the tea mountain (photo provided by the interviewee)
Start a family and don't forget to give back to the society
In the eight years of struggle in the mainland, Yu Wei not only gained a career, but also a happy family. From Zhaoqing Huaiji back to Foshan Chancheng, it takes only two hours by car. In his free time, he can also drive his family to the surrounding cities for vacations and spend time with friends, which makes him feel more comfortable than the fast-paced life in Hong Kong.
Yu Wei wedding photos (middle for Yu Wei's parents)
In addition to growing tea, Yu Wei also began to try to promote the cultivation of cash crops, macadamia nuts, in the hope of providing more suitable jobs for more people and breaking the current situation that there is no export in China.
"Macadamia nuts are grown in poverty alleviation projects in many places, which are highly economical crops. China has no exports at the moment, and this will be a big gap in the future. The space for development in Zhaoqing is very large, and the surrounding area can also radiate to Guangxi and Hunan. ”
He is the Hong Kong youth Yu Wei: adhering to the original intention, insisting on making pure tea and actively disseminating traditional tea culture; Actively respond to the local government's rural revitalization policy, help the high-quality development of agriculture in the Greater Bay Area, and strive to become a "new farmer" in the context of the digital economy.