Tourists join a traditional village feast in Shenshan village, Maoping town, Jinggangshan city, Jiangxi province, on July 4. [Photo/Xinhua]
Deep in the forested mountains of Pulong village in Jinggangshan, East China’s Jiangxi province, Li Yunyan tends more than 90 beehives. What began as a modest sideline has grown into a reliable livelihood.
The 46-year-old, who has limited mobility, has relied on beekeeping for years. But with only a few dozen hives and little access to markets, expanding the business once seemed out of reach.
“In the past, I had only 30 to 40 beehives and had to carry honey out for sale,” Li says. “The mountain roads were difficult, and even high-quality honey could not always fetch a good price.”
That changed when local Party organizations helped connect villagers directly with businesses. Beekeepers received technical training, expanded their colonies and gained access to stable procurement channels.
Now, enterprises collect Li’s honey directly from his doorstep, eliminating the burden of transporting it. For residents unable to undertake physically demanding work, beekeeping and other eco-friendly industries have become dependable sources of income.
Li’s story reflects a broader transformation in Jinggangshan, long celebrated as the cradle of the Chinese revolution and now emerging as a model of green development.
Among old revolutionary bases across the country, Jinggangshan carries special historical significance. In 1927, Chairman Mao Zedong led a fledgling group of Chinese revolutionaries deep into the mountains around Jinggangshan, where they established the first rural revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China.