On a sunny summer day, the small town of Olds, about an hour's drive north of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is like a blazing sun. "Dong Cai Cai" came out of the woods of his farm with a smile, his complexion dark and muddy.
The data picture shows that on July 10, 2022, at the "Delicious Land" farm in the small town of Olds, Alberta, Canada, "Dong Cai Cai" inspected the crops in the first greenhouse he built. Photo by Yu Ruidong, a reporter from China News Service
The former "xueba" of the geology department of Peking University is now a farmer with thick cocoons with his hands. In early 2021, he posted his first video on the video website "A Peking University Graduate's Road to Growing Vegetables in Canada!" 》。 The 19-minute film became a hit and has now been played around 700,000 times on various platforms.
Born in 1981, "Dong Cai Cai" real name Dong Jianyi, his hometown is in Tangshan, Hebei Province. After graduating from Peking University in 2007, he entered a world-renowned oilfield technical service company. After a variety of experiences, he immigrated to Canada in 2014 to embark on a new runway in the "oil city" of Calgary.
However, the collapse of international oil prices plunged the oil industry into a depression. For him, who had just come to Canada, the road of life fell sharply.
Dong Jianyi had to choose to change his career. During that low period, he tried many part-time jobs and eventually set his sights on agriculture. He hopes to introduce China's mature greenhouse technology to adapt to Calgary's natural conditions of long winter and short summer but abundant sunshine.
The data picture shows that on July 10, 2022, at the "Delicious Land" farm in the small town of Olds, Alberta, Canada, "Dong Cai Cai" built 2 warm sheds and 5 cold sheds by himself. Photo by Yu Ruidong, a reporter from China News Service
To this end, he went to a farm thousands of miles away to learn art from a teacher, and then returned to China to investigate and study. In September 2017, in the town of Oldes, a wasteland where even the fence had been torn away by the original owner, he officially opened a new chapter in his farming.
The difficulty of starting from scratch is beyond imagination. With limited budgets and difficulties in finding workers with relevant experience in the local area, Dong Jianyi and his wife could only build greenhouses by themselves. Using the tools and materials he could find, the high-quality student not only accurately carried out various measurements and positioning, but also made a self-made crane to complete hundreds of tons of irrigation soil, covering the roof of the shed and other huge projects. He laughed and said that to solve the problems in the construction process, the knowledge of secondary school is enough, and the key is to learn and use it.
Almost entirely on his own, it took a year to build the first greenhouse, which was 100 meters long, 10.5 meters wide and 6 meters high, and the thermal storage earth wall in the shed was about 100 meters long, 4 meters high and 1 meter thick. This is the first passive winter-warmed solar greenhouse with a double-arched, double-membrane structure in the region.
The picture shows that on July 10, 2022, customers are picking fruits and vegetables in a cold shed at the "Delicious Land" farm run by "Dong Cai Cai" in the small town of Olds, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Yu Ruidong, a reporter from China News Service
The subsequent planting of vegetables was another round of "practice." Dong Jianyi identified the Chinese-loved western red maple as the main crop. Understanding the soil and climate influences, and figuring out the planting doorway, he also spent at least two years exploring and thinking.
Today, he has built two greenhouses of the same type and five single-film cold sheds, and is working to expand production and grow more varieties of crops. Customers are growing across different sales channels and picking businesses.
When he and his wife began to test the waters of online videos under the screen names of "Dong Cai Cai" and "Wang Guoguo", what attracted netizens was not only his appearance that resembled That of Chinese film and television star Lei Jiayin, but also the experience of Peking University's high-achieving students who became farmers after immigrating and "fighting in the sky". The greenhouses he built himself, the fruits and vegetables he planted, and the little changes in the farm have amazed and sighed many netizens.
Peers and school teachers and students came to visit his "Delicious Place" farm; Some people come from afar to volunteer and learn the arts; He was invited to give a lecture by a local organization. After receiving more and more inquiries, he opened an English video channel. When the reporter visited, an entrepreneur from Ontario was approaching the door to seek cooperation. "Dong Caicai" said that it was an accident to become an "internet celebrity", but everyone's recognition brought more motivation to himself.
"Dong Caicai" said that he had not imagined an agricultural life of sunrise and sunset. Although it is hard now, thanks to the past experience in the field oil field, it is also very adaptable, and there is no psychological gap. At the same time, his personality is quiet; I also like to use my strengths and creativity in the simple world of dealing with plants and animals.
"Dong Cai Cai" admits that the challenges encountered in building sheds and growing vegetables have also made them anxious, doubt themselves and even move to give up. Even if it has been 5 years since I started my business, there will still be anxieties. For example, last winter and this spring encountered extremely low temperatures, and in June this year, there was abnormal low temperatures and continuous heavy rains, resulting in severe water accumulation in the greenhouses, affecting the harvest.
The data picture shows that on July 10, 2022, at the "Delicious Land" farm run by "Dong Cai Cai" in the small town of Olds, Alberta, Canada, customers are picking fruits and vegetables in the greenhouse. Photo by Yu Ruidong, a reporter from China News Service
But he knows that it is not easy for all walks of life to do a good job, and it is inevitable to face a lot of pain. "People are elastic, slowly honed and adapted." He said that to overcome anxiety, on the one hand, rely on life experience; On the other hand, the biggest motivation comes from coming up with ways to solve difficulties, "as long as you can move forward, you are not anxious." ”
During the conversation, in front of the door of the first warm shed he built, "Dong Caicai" under the scorching sun took off his glasses and wiped the beads of sweat all over his head with his sleeve. On the door of the warm shed was pasted two words of his own inscription: "Three hundred tomatoes per day, do not quit cultivating Oldes for a long time."
Source: China News Service