The Yellow River flows for more than 5,000 kilometers. Deep within its great n-shaped bend lies a village in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China. The village is called Fulu in Chinese—a name that carries the meaning of blessing and prosperity.
Located at the easternmost edge of Ordos, Fulu Village covers 75 square kilometers, nearly 80 percent of which is blanketed by sandstone. From a distance, the layered rock formations appear striking and beautiful, yet they disintegrate into mud when exposed to water. Compounding the challenge, the village sits directly along the 400-millimeter annual precipitation line, where alternating droughts and floods have long troubled local residents. Villager Lin Fucun, who has spent years tending his modest farmland, knows all too well the whims of nature. “It’s dry when we plant and flooded when we harvest. It’s hard to get food from the fields onto the table,” he said.
Fulu Village in Shagedu Tow, Jungar Banner, Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China
Born and raised in Fulu Village, Duan Jinhua once worried deeply about the village’s future. Of the entire village, only a little over 3,000 mu (200 hectares) of land was truly suitable for cultivation. “Without an industry, the village can’t retain people, and development becomes impossible,” he said. A turning point came in 2019 when, under the “Ten Thousand Enterprises Helping Ten Thousand Villages” initiative, Huangyuchuan Coal Mine of CHN Energy Guoyuan Power established a paired assistance program with Fulu Village.
After discussions between the village assistance team and the village committee, attention turned to the wild apricot trees covering the surrounding hills. Over several decades of anti-desertification efforts, Jungar Banner had planted approximately 1 million mu (66,700 hectares) of cold- and drought-resistant apricot trees. Fulu Village happened to be nestled within this vast apricot forest.
Apricot forest industrial base in Jungar Banner
Nie Hailiang, resident village cadre from Huangyuchuan Coal Mine, recognized the value of this natural resource. “Wild apricots are sweet and fleshy. Although the kernels are slightly bitter and contain trace amounts of toxic substances, their protein content reaches 25 to 26 percent, far higher than that of many other varieties. With proper soaking and debittering processes, they can be turned into a high-value health tea,” he explained.
Once the tea-making concept was finalized, the banner government, Huangyuchuan Coal Mine and the village collective quickly pooled resources to launch Happy Apricot Tea, a collective economic brand for the village. A tea-processing factory and supporting cold-storage facilities soon took root in the community.
For local resident Yan Cai, farming is no longer her only occupation. She has also become a skilled factory worker. Inside the spacious production workshop, she skillfully operates the processing line. “After cracking the apricot kernels, we soak and peel them, roast the white kernels, grind them into powder, and then package them after screening,” she said. The job close to home has increased her monthly income by more than 1,000 yuan (about140 USD), and her son has since graduated from university and settled in the county town.
Workers package finished Happy Apricot Tea products
A small cup of tea has revitalized the economy of this remote valley. When the tea factory officially began operation in 2021, Fulu Village entered a fast track of rural revitalization. Duan Jinhua calculated that the village’s operational industrial assets had expanded from an initial 1.3 million yuan (about 181,000 USD) to more than 11 million yuan (about1.53 million USD). The village-owned enterprise has long since recovered its investment costs, and its profits continue to be reinvested in local infrastructure development.
The village’s industrial ambitions have not stopped with tea. To address frequent droughts, Huangyuchuan Coal Mine and the village collective jointly built a high-standard water-storage and irrigation project, including about 100 mu (6.7 hectares) of irrigated farmland and 30 mu (2 hectares) of greenhouses. Rows of blue-roofed greenhouses now produce thriving watermelons and melons, creating another source of income for villagers.
One kilometer from the greenhouses, irrigation pipes carry clear water across nearby farmland. Although this year has been particularly dry, Lin Fucun’s 10 mu (0.67 hectares) of corn and soybeans have received ample irrigation. Looking at the moist soil, he could not hide his satisfaction. “This water-storage well has made a huge difference. In the past, we probably wouldn’t have harvested anything by the end of the year,” he said.
Greenhouses jointly built by the banner government, Huangyuchuan Coal Mine and the village collective
Industrial diversification has brought tangible improvements to local livelihoods. Average annual per-capita income in the village has risen from less than 10,000 yuan (about1,400 USD) to more than 20,000 yuan (about 2,800 USD), while cultivated land has expanded to over 5,000 mu (333 hectares). To better care for elderly residents, Fulu Village established the town’s first village-level senior dining hall. The facility serves two hot meals daily, and thanks to subsidies from the village collective, seniors pay only 6 yuan (about 0.84 USD) per day.
Although 88-year-old Shi Yuzhen no longer speaks as fluently as before, she has witnessed every change in the village. Sitting in the bright and clean dining hall, she smiled and said, “Now that the village has become so wonderful, I want to keep living well and enjoy it.”
Village officials and the resident First Secretary visit elderly resident Shi Yuzhen
From the impoverished Fulu of the past to today’s prosperous village filled with the aroma of tea, CHN Energy Guoyuan Power’s industrial assistance efforts have transformed this community nestled within the Yellow River’s great bend. Like a cup of Happy Apricot Tea, life here has moved from bitterness to sweetness, leaving a lasting and rewarding aftertaste.
