The 2024 Chinese Farmer's Harvest Festival kicked off on September 22, coinciding with the Autumnal Equinox on the lunar calendar. The 2024 Chinese Farmer's Harvest Festival Gala (hereinafter referred to as the "Gala") began at 8:10 p.m. For the first time, the Gala set up a special sub-venue in Youyang, Chongqing. During the show, local specialty agricultural products, including Hejiayan cloud rice, Youzhou Miao embroidery, and Youyang tea oil, were shown to audiences nationwide.
In May this year, Hejiayan Village launched the "2024 Hejiayan Cloud Rice Adoption Program". This innovative project saw 500 mu (about 333,333 square meters) of rice paddies being marketed "in the cloud", with nearly 10,000 users from across China quickly snapping up all available orders.
Hejiayan Village has now run this program for three consecutive years. In 2022, with the help of the Tencent Cloud
"Why is it called 'Youyang 800'?" the host asked.
"The name comes from Youyang's average altitude of 800 meters. It represents the essence of Youyang's 800-meter high mountains, 800 li (about 400 km) of Youshui River, 800 types of phenology, and 800 villages," answered You Biao, chairman of the "Youyang 800" Ecological Farmers Alliance.
In March 2023, the People's Government of Youyang County and the China Council for the Promotion of National Trade jointly held a launch event in Beijing for the "Youyang 800" regional public brand. This event introduced Youyang's previously "hidden" local specialties to the world.
Recently, Chongqing hosted the 2024 "Youyang 800" popular product launch, which saw on-site purchase agreements exceeding 600 million yuan and over 68 million views across various online platforms.
This regional public brand, just over a year old, has already evolved to version 3.0, covering the entire region, supply chain, and product range. It now features 49 major categories with 348 different products.
"We owe this success to four characteristics of the 'Youyang 800' brand," explained an official from Youyang County.
First, "Purity": Along Youyang's 800-meter altitude contour line, the fertile soil makes cultivation with "zero pesticides and zero chemical fertilizers" possible;
Second, "Standardization": Youyang has established a fully traceable system "from planting to processing, from farm to table", and has developed or participated in developing multiple industry standards;
Third, "Reinvention": This brand has extended the industry chain and increased added value, enabling farmers to market their products both online and offline;
Fourth, "Empowerment": The brand has activated core agricultural production resources, including 73,000 local farmers, over 2,150 agriculture-related enterprises, and more than 100,000 mu (about 66.7 million square meters) of direct supply bases.
"The next step is to iterate and upgrade the 'Youyang 800' to version 4.0 based on a comprehensive ecological approach," the official explained.
The Gala also spotlighted a group of "new farmers" from Youyang.
The first to appear was He Quanyan, the rural CEO of Hejiayan Village. After graduating from university, she chose to return to her hometown to help develop Hejiayan's cloud rice industry.
"Through WeChat video channel live streaming and WeChat mini programs, we've brought Hejiayan's cloud rice to the digital cloud, selling it nationwide. At the same time, through our Cooperative for Shared Prosperity, we've transformed idle warehouses into convenience stores, Mingde Academy, cafes, and other business entities," He Quanyan explained.
Shan Yi, the rural CEO of Hewan Village in Youshuihe Town, Youyang County, has focused on developing stilted guesthouses and a museum of traditional Tujia architectural arts, turning the century-old village into a "golden" tourist attraction.
In 2018, Shan Yi came to Hewan Village to implement two projects: first, to build stilted guesthouses, and second, to construct a museum showcasing traditional Tujia architectural arts. These initiatives aim to enrich the village's tourism with cultural attractions, enhancing the overall tourism development of Hewan Village.
"We expect the museum to be fully completed by 2025. In addition to showcasing various types of Tujia stilted buildings, it will also serve as an international cultural exchange center," Shan Yi explained.
You Biao introduced that Youyang County has now established the "Youyang 800" Ecological Farmers Alliance, comprising 62 member organizations spread across more than 100 villages in 32 towns and townships throughout the county. Rural CEOs within the alliance, like He Quanyan and Shan Yi, have already helped Youyang develop 50 villages focused on shared prosperity. On average, these villages now generate a collective economic operating income of 300,000 yuan each.