China News Service, Yibin, February 13th: Taiwan’s “entrepreneurial mothers” spell out a happy and sweet New Year with strawberries as a New Year’s dish
China News Service reporter He Shaoqing
"Different varieties of strawberries have different aromas, but they all add happiness and sweetness to our New Year table." On the 13th, the fourth day of the first lunar month, Chen Aiwu, a Taiwanese businessman who runs an organic strawberry ecological farm in Yanzi Village, Gaoxian County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province Go to the smart greenhouse to pick strawberries and prepare for the New Year strawberry hot pot feast in a few hours.
Recently, Chen Aiwu showed off the strawberries he grew. Photo by China News Service reporter Wang Lei
Different from the entrepreneurial Taiwanese youth who came to the mainland to "have a try" when they were young, Chen Aiwu came to Yibin to invest in and start a farm when he was 45 years old. From planting the first batch of strawberries in 2019 to sharing this sweetness with diners all over the world during the Spring Festival in 2024, Chen Aiwu completed the transformation from a stay-at-home wife in Taiwan to an "entrepreneurial mother" while pursuing her dream.
Wearing strawberry earrings and a strawberry brooch, Chen Aiwu started talking about his beloved strawberries. "Taiwan has long had a fruity and coconut-flavored hot pot, and we added strawberries to it to make the soup base more fresh and sweet." Chen Aiwu said that for this year's Spring Festival reunion dinner, she had already designed a variety of strawberry creative New Year dishes and drinks. For example, "Berry Fruit Garden" stir-fried with strawberries and pineapples, "Meet Berry Good" strawberry eight-treasure rice, shrimp balls and strawberries, and Taiwanese three-cup chicken with strawberries. The fourth day of the first lunar month is the day for family reunion dinner to "welcome the Kitchen God". On this day, the farm's restaurant is fully booked before the Spring Festival.
Strawberry hotpot with fresh fruits such as strawberries and oranges added to the bottom of the pot. Photo by China News Service reporter Wang Lei
The Spring Festival is when a large number of strawberries are on the market. The neat rows of planting racks in front of Chen Aiwu are filled with peach smoke, angel's tears and other strawberries, like a miniature strawberry expo garden. The planting racks are connected with temperature sensors, soil sensors, automatic drip irrigation and other equipment. You only need to use your mobile phone to activate the heating and cooling system, sunshade system and irrigation system of the entire greenhouse, which is full of technology.
Talking about his original intention of becoming a "new farmer", Chen Aiwu recalled that in 2017, he participated in the "Cross-Strait Family, Loyalty, Filial Piety and Shared Inheritance" Zhongxiao Cultural Festival held in Gaoxian County, and felt the vitality of the western countryside in mainland China, so he came up with the idea of transforming Taiwan's ecology The idea of bringing agriculture to Gaoxian. "My husband's family runs farms in Taiwan. They know that farming is not easy, so they were not optimistic about it at first. They told me that if I hit the wall, I would go home and continue to be a housewife."
Consulting organic agriculture experts on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, planning and designing parks, building smart agricultural greenhouses, and introducing strawberry varieties... With hard work, Chen Aiwu started from scratch and established a business in Gaoxian County that integrates smart agriculture, sightseeing experience, B&B food, and leisure study functions. "Cross-Strait Creative Agriculture Happy Pastoral".
Under Chen Aiwu's careful construction, in addition to four smart greenhouses covering an area of more than 6,000 square meters, the farm is also equipped with a strawberry theme plaza, a strawberry story museum, and a strawberry creative workshop. In the New Year of the Year of the Dragon, fresh strawberries are picked here every day, put into strawberry New Year gift boxes, and sold to many places in Beijing and Shanghai.
The picture shows "Berry Fruit Garden" fried with strawberries and pineapples. (Photo provided by interviewee)
Chen Aiwu said that the rapid development of the farm is also due to riding on the express train of rural revitalization. The full coverage of 5G network, the development of cold chain transportation and the opening of high-speed railways and highways have opened up the sales of agricultural products in Yanzi Village, promoted the transformation and upgrading of Yanzi Village’s agricultural tourism, and taken their sweet career to the next level.
"Now my mother-in-law praises me when I meet everyone, and I can feel her joy from the bottom of her heart every time we chat." Chen Aiwu said that after her daughter graduated from Wuhan University, she also joined the construction of the farm. The daughter designed a strawberry doll mascot for the farm and opened an e-commerce channel for the farm.
This Spring Festival, Chen Aiwu will also bring his son, who is studying in middle school in Taiwan, to Gaoxian County for a reunion. When night falls, the farm will light a bonfire, and the staff and tourists will sing, dance, and set off fireworks and firecrackers among the stars in the mountains to celebrate the good life of "Berry" in the Year of the Dragon. Unfortunately, since the Spring Festival is also the peak season for strawberry sales on Taiwanese farms, Chen Aiwu and his wife each had their own sweet careers and were unable to reunite.
"After the Chengdu-Hong Kong high-speed rail is opened, it only takes about 7 hours by train from Yibin to Hong Kong. The strawberries picked in the morning can be served to the tables of Hong Kong compatriots in the evening. I hope that the strawberries from the farm next year will add sweetness to the New Year's Eve dinner of Hong Kong people." Chen Aiwu smiled and said that during a recent phone call, her husband also made the decision to come to the mainland to work hard with her in the future. "Because the mainland is developing so fast, there are business opportunities everywhere." (End)