Young man sells Yunnan wild mushrooms online
"Do any of you like Thelephora ganbajun? The Ganbajun mushroom is very tasty when fried with rice. We Yunnan locals love this dish," said Zhao Zeyi, a young man in his 20s, who was selling wild mushrooms online in the Mushuihua market, central Yunnan’s Kunming city.
During one of his livestreaming sessions, Zhao placed his phone’s camera towards baskets filled with freshly picked wild mushrooms, and he walked around the bustling market packed with mushroom vendors, enthusiastically interacting with online viewers.
Various edible wild fungi, such as termitomyces, lurid bolete, morels and chanterelles, are all displayed on the market stalls. The Kunming-based wild mushroom market, with its official name being the Mushuihua wild mushroom trading center, is the largest of its kind in China.
Summer, along with the abound rainfalls, is the best timing for tasting Yunnan mushrooms, and the wild-mushroom vendors begin gathering at the market as early as 4:00a.m. before dawn. Then Zhao, together with his countless fellow online streamers, is ready to sell wild mushrooms through live broadcasts.
As a native of northeast Yunnan's Zhaotong city, Zhao Zeyi has been operating his live-streaming account for over a month. He drives half an hour every day from his home to the trading center for live broadcasts, where he tells his audience about introduces the fungus's growing environment, varieties, and the picking and cooking steps. If someone places an order, he will package and ship the mushrooms directly from the trading market's pickup point.
Zhao's wild mushroom business account primarily features content related to mushroom picking in the woods, the vibrant wild mushroom market, and knowledge about wild mushrooms. Despite the relatively short duration of account operation, he has managed to produce works that attract considerable viewership.
Zhao said selling wild mushrooms is just the starting point of his career. In the future, he plans to sell more Yunnan specialties through livestreaming, such as flowers, apples, peppercorns, and others.
To do a good job in online selling for rural produces, Zhao believes the first key is to win public praise by vending wild mushrooms at modest profits. On the other hand, he's exploring how to attract more faithful fans by livestreaming and making hot short videos.
"I love traveling. It’ll be wonderful to make money while traveling around," said Zhao. He wishes to go to other places across China, such as Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture and Hainan province, to sell local special products through live streaming.
Source: China Youth Daily; Trans-editing by Guo Yao