China News Service, Zhangping, Fujian, March 1 (Reporter Zhang Jinchuan) "Today, Yongfu Expressway has been included in the "14th Five-Year Plan" and it is expected to be open to traffic in two or three years. It will be more convenient." Li Zhihong, a Taiwanese businessman from Alishan on the mainland, was very happy when he talked about the topic of Yongfutong Expressway.
The Zhangpingtaiwan Farmer Pioneer Park, established in 2006, was upgraded to a "national level" in 2008, and ranked first in the evaluation of the construction of the national Taiwanese innovation park for four consecutive years.
Yongfu Town is the core area of Zhangpingtaiwan Farmer Pioneer Park. Because of its latitude, climate, and industry close to Taiwan's Alishan, it is hailed by Taiwanese businessmen and farmers as the "Alishan of the Mainland".
During the cherry blossom season, Taiwanese businessman Xie Dongqing's family would warmly greet everyone in the reception hall of the tea garden to enjoy tea and cherry blossoms.
Photo by Wang Dongming
However, road traffic has long plagued the development of Zhangtaiwan Farmer Pioneer Park.
Li Zhihong said with emotion that in the early days of entrepreneurship, from Xiamen to Yongfu Town, cars had to wind and bump on mountain roads for 6 hours.
Two years ago, the opening of the South (Ping)-Long (Yan) Railway brought Zhangping City into the "Era of High-speed Trains."
"It takes only one and a half hours from Zhangping City to Nanping City and Xiamen City, and two hours to Fuzhou City." In Li Zhihong's eyes, high-speed rail brings great opportunities. First of all, the tea in Zhangpingtaiwan Farmer Pioneer Park will be connected to high-speed rail. Network transportation to various places, followed by convenient and efficient high-speed rail network will bring a large number of tourists.
Aerial photography of cherry blossom tea garden.
Photo by Wang Dongming
However, there is still an hour's drive from Zhangping city to Yongfu.
At the end of 2020, Li Zhihong attended and delivered a speech at a forum for Taiwanese compatriots and enterprises across the province, proposing to speed up the construction of Yongfu Expressway, which was affirmed and supported by relevant departments.
It was under the impetus of Li Zhihong and other Taiwanese businessmen and farmers that Yongfu Litong Expressway took another big step.
In Li Zhihong's view, the compatriots on both sides of the strait are the flesh-and-blooded folks, and the compatriots on both sides of the strait must join hands, cooperate, and win-win.
"The mainland has worked hard to benefit Taiwan compatriots and actively serve Taiwan-funded enterprises, so that our Taiwanese and Taiwanese enterprises have more sense of gain."
Yongfu's development and changes are inseparable from the Taiwanese businessman Xie Dongqing.
In 1996, Xie Dongqing came to Yongfu Town for the first time. After investigation, he decided to stay here to grow tea.
In addition to introducing Taiwan's tea management methods, Xie Dongqing has planted cherry blossoms in tea gardens since 2000.
After the tea plantation was established, Xie Dongqing recruited poor households who were idle in the area to pick tea, which solved the employment problem of many idle laborers and increased the income of poor households.
"Nowadays, the farmers here pay about 50 million yuan in wages to local workers every year." Xie Dongqing said.
Taiwanese businessman Zeng Guobao introduced his tea-making technology.
Photo by Wang Dongming
In addition to the tea industry, Taipin Cherry Blossom Garden also develops sightseeing tours.
So far, the Taipin Sakura Tea Garden covers an area of more than 1,800 acres, with an annual output of over 100,000 kg of tea.
In Xie Dongqing's view, combining high-quality and refined agriculture with new models of rural tourism, leisure sightseeing, and modern agriculture, Taiwan's cherry blossom tea garden has formed a romantic and spectacular sight of "ten miles of cherry blossoms and ten thousand acres of tea garden".
Industrial integration has generated benefits, which has allowed Taiwan farmers to taste the sweetness, increased the income of villagers, and promoted the local poverty alleviation and revitalization.
"The cherry blossoms are in full bloom during the Spring Festival every day, and tens of thousands of people come to enjoy the cherry blossoms every day, driving Yongfu's industry and prospering the local economy." Xie Dongqing is proud of the fact that Taiwan farmers play a great role in the revitalization of Yongfu village.
In recent years, Zhangpingtaiwan Farmer Pioneer Park has actively explored new roads for cross-strait integration and development, and accelerated the upgrading and transformation of cherry blossom tea gardens and the construction of "Taiwan Town" with the help of the cherry blossom brand.
As the first Taiwanese businessman to invest in tea growing at Yongfu, Zhangping, Xie Dongqing has lived in Yongfu for 25 years. Now, he is starting to plan a blueprint for the next 25 years.
The Taiwanese businessman Zeng Guobao, who took root in Yongfu in 2006, also witnessed the development and changes of Yongfu. "Before it was an old house, the road was difficult to follow."
Today, Dr. Zhangping Tea Comprehensive Farm Co., Ltd. founded by Zeng Guobao has a mature production line and puts into production more than 200,000 jin of tea every year.
He is starting to build the "Taiwan Tea Story House" brand chain store, and the "Taiwan Tea Story House" covering an area of 5 acres has just been put into use.
He said that the mainland market is vast and the prospects are unlimited.
Although affected by the epidemic, the company's tea sales increased slightly last year.
Next, he will plan tea culture research activities.
After more than ten years of development, Zhangpingtaiwan Farmer Pioneer Park has become the region with the most intensive Taiwanese investment in the mainland and the largest alpine oolong tea production base in mainland China.
According to official data, there are currently 76 Taiwanese enterprises and more than 600 Taiwanese farmers, including 23 above-scale tea enterprises and 48 high-mountain tea bases, with an annual output of more than 1,600 tons of tea and an output value of 720 million yuan.
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