Chinese Farmers Harvest Festival

In Wenxi County of Yuncheng City, north China's Shanxi Province, the planting area of hawthorn in Qilipo reaches over 30,000 mu (2,000 hectares), helping increase the incomes of local people. Li Yuxian, director of the Banshanyao Hawthorn Planting Cooperative, said that by planting hawthorn, the local farmers earn an annual net income of 4,000 yuan for each mu of land. In recent years, the cooperative has continuously developed new varieties of selenium-rich hawthorn, and has also developed more than 10 kinds of hawthorn-derived products such as hawthorn balls, hawthorn honey, hawthorn wine and hawthorn vinegar. In September 2015, Li participated in the International Agricultural Fair held in Poland, and the hawthorn products she brought to the fair were the only products of their kind on the exhibition, which were well welcomed by attendees. 

Photographs by Chen Jian

High-quality seedlings are indispensable for producing high-quality vegetables. Ruiheng Agricultural Co., Ltd., in Xinjiang County of Yuncheng City, north China's Shanxi Province, has a modern high-quality vegetable planting and demonstration garden integrating various roles of variety research and development, farmer training, vegetable seedling, product demonstration, processing and sales. According to Chao Zhenliang, president of the company, the company has engaged in long-term cooperation with many scientific research institutions including the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the research and development of vegetable varieties and cultivation techniques. At present, it has built smart seedling greenhouses covering 4,000 square meters, and solar greenhouses covering 9,000 square meters. The annual seedling capacity is more than 20 million. Vegetable seedlings are sold to the markets in the surrounding 200 kilometers, which effectively guarantees the quality of vegetable cultivation of local farmers.

Photographs by Chen Jian

In Linyi County in Yuncheng City, north China's Shanxi Province, Wu Zhongding is renowned as the “Apple King” by the locals. The selenium-rich apples he planted are huge and red, which are the best-selling apples in nearby. 63-year-old Wu Zhongding has been planting apples for nearly 40 years. In his view, to grow good apples, one must make three indispensable endeavors such as technology, investment, and hard work. And Wu firmly believes that apple cultivation should shift from "high yield" to "high quality". In recent years, with the use of organic fertilizer, biological control for grass growing and other measures, the quality of his orchard soil has continued to improve, and the soil organic elements content has increased from 1.2% in 2010 to 2.8%. Wu shared with China Pictorial that he has an ambition and confidence to build an orchard that will last for a century.

Photographs by Chen Jian

Located in Haizhou town, Yuncheng, Shanxi province, Guandi Temple was listed as a national 4A tourist attraction in 2005. The temple represents the loyalty, courage and righteousness of Guan Yu–a famous general in the Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280).

First built in Haizhou, the hometown of Guan Yu, during the Sui Dynasty (581-618), Guandi Temple was reconstructed and expanded during the following dynasties. The temple was destroyed by fire during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and then restored after over 10 years' work.

It now covers 7.3 hectares, making it the largest temple in memory of Guan Yu in China or abroad.

Photographs by Chen Jian/China Pictorial

People compete in a wrestling match in Haizhou town of Yuncheng City, north China's Shanxi Province.

Photographs by Chen Jian/China Pictorial

A giant statue of Guan Yu in Yuncheng, north China’s Shanxi Province. The statue, which stands 61 meters tall atop a 19-meter-tall pedestal, represents the ancient Chinese warrior who died at the age of 61 and lived in his hometown for 19 years.

Photographs by Chen Jian/China Pictorial