Gong Cai drives rural revitalization in county of SW China's Yunnan

Huang Yanhua, a villager, checks dried Gong Cai, a vegetable of the lettuce family, in Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hu Zunhui)

This year, Huang Yanhua, a villager, planted 8 mu (0.53 hectares) of Gong Cai, a vegetable of the lettuce family, in Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. He expects to earn more than 60,000 yuan ($8,700) from the crop.

"Growing Gong Cai ensures a much steadier income than working as a migrant worker," he said.

He is not alone. A growing number of farmers in the village have found a path to prosperity through this unassuming vegetable, building better lives without having to leave home. But the story began with a bold decision made in 2014.

"Back then, the village had no real industry to speak of. Most young people had gone off to find work elsewhere, and the elderly who stayed behind eked out a living growing traditional crops," recalled Li Yongzeng, who served as Party branch secretary and head of the villagers' committee at the time. "If we wanted things to change, we had to develop an industry."

In 2014, Li took the plunge and decided to try growing Gong Cai.

"Nobody in Yangbi was doing it yet. I went to other places to see how it was done and found that Gong Cai was easy to manage, had a short growing cycle and offered solid returns," he said.

The village has adopted a development model featuring close collaboration among enterprises, cooperatives and farming families. The cooperatives provide seedlings, technical guidance and guaranteed purchases, giving farmers confidence.

The village has also held regular training sessions, guiding farmers through every stage of production — from transplanting and field management to harvesting and processing.

Dong Zhenguo, Party secretary of Yangjiang town, said that by spring this year, Sangbulao village had more than 1,700 mu of Gong Cai under cultivation, involving 280 households — well over half of all families in the village. This year's output value is expected to reach 10 million yuan.

The transformation of Sangbulao is a microcosm of Yangbi county's broader effort to draw on experience gained through the Green Rural Revival Program in east China's Zhejiang Province and advance rural industrial revitalization.

In 2024, Gong Cai from Yangbi was included in China's national list of famous, high-quality, special and new agricultural products.

Today, a complete industrial chain integrating planting, processing and sales has taken shape in the county, benefiting thousands of households. This progress reflects Yunnan Province's drive to develop specialty agriculture and build on the gains of poverty alleviation through rural revitalization.

A villager harvests Gong Cai, a vegetable of the lettuce family, in Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hu Zunhui)

Freshly peeled and sliced Gong Cai, a vegetable of the lettuce family, dries at a villager's home in Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hu Zunhui)

A villager cuts Gong Cai, a vegetable of the lettuce family, into strips in Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hu Zunhui)

Photo shows Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hu Zunhui)

Photo shows Gong Cai fields in Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hu Zunhui)

Freshly peeled and sliced Gong Cai, a vegetable of the lettuce family, dries at a villager's home in Sangbulao village, Yangjiang town, Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hu Zunhui)