E-commerce changes live in rural village

Tang Xinglin is livestreaming in Bangmu village, Shuangjiang county, southwest Yunnan's Lincang city, Shuangjiang county, southwest Yunnan's Lincang city. (People's Daily/Photo)

Over 90,000 orders, that is, more than 30 tons of tea valued at over 6 million yuan. The live streaming team named "Village Secretary Bangmu" achieved this sales performance within less than ten months.

Bangmu village is in the hidden mountainous area of Shuangjiang county, southwest Yunnan's Lincang city. It takes a ride of thirty to forty minutes to reach this village from the county.

Bangmu village party branch operates a live-streaming channel called "Village Secretary Bangmu" with an online fanbase of 46,000 followers. Tang Xinglin, the party branch secretary, was born in the 1990s. "Our village party members are leading the way in learning new technology," said Tang, "Live streaming sales have become a new 'agricultural activity.' Despite a drop in tea production this year, our income hasn't decreased."

Bangmu village thrives on its 12,000 acres of tea gardens – tea plantation supports the livelihoods of the villagers.

Tang said the village never struggled to sell its tea leaves as manufacturers purchase fresh leaves each year. However, during the mid to late spring tea season, the manufacturers typically lowered the prices from over 20 yuan per kilogram to seven or eight yuan. "Our tea business highly relies on centralized purchases from outside because we don't have a tea brand," said Tang.

Tang took the initiative to sell products via live streaming last year. However, there were few takers at first because of their lack of e-commerce experience. Therefore, Tang and the village committee members, along with returning university graduates, began to learn from professional teams.

We opened the "Village Secretary Bangmu" channel on Dec 11 last year. The team pinpointed the unique flavor of tea leaves, showcased the village's customs and culture, and introduced "9.9 yuan" promotional products. The livestreams became lively, with nearly 3,000 people online at the peak.

From a small team of four to over twenty members today, "Village Secretary Bangmu" has grown stronger. The team has recruited six university graduates who returned to their hometown for entrepreneurship as new live streamers. Besides, the young people formed a service team to manage the tea gardens and standardize the processing procedures scientifically.

Guided by the party members, the villagers have set up over 20 live-streaming channels and enthusiastically adopted e-commerce as their new source of income. All the tea on offer has been quickly snapped up, resulting in a general price surge of twenty to thirty percent. "Ever since we started live streaming, our village's collective economic earnings have soared to 340,000 yuan. With this, each villager invested 100 yuan in medical insurance," Tang added.

Further, e-commerce transforms the small mountain village by bringing new development opportunities.

Previously, villagers sold fresh tea leaves. Now, they sell finished products with more than 20 tea processing factories established. With the project funds from the county's authorities, an old tea factory dating back to the 1950s in the village is being revitalized for mass tea processing. Moreover, many out-of-town fans travel a long way to visit the village, showing the promising future of integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism.

"This year, we are determined to surpass 10 million yuan in livestreaming sales. We will sell not only tea leaves but also local specialties such as walnuts, chayote, and even premium tea leaves produced by other villages," Tang Xinglin said confidently.

Source: People's Daily; trans-editing by Guo Yao