The tale of the Peacock Princess

Slim and of medium height, with big, intense eyes, Xu Liqiu comes across as a warm, caring person. But Xu, who runs an animal husbandry business, insists there is more to her than that. She is also very determined, she says.

That desire to follow her own path despite opposition from those around her has helped her get where she is today.

At 31, Xu is the owner and director of Jiutai Tianyuan Animal Husbandry Farm in Jilin province, Northeast China. But unlike most livestock farms in the province, which mainly raise animals that will eventually sit on people's dinner tables, Xu's farm produces rare and attractive birds destined to be kept alive for their esthetic beauty.

The farm has more than 100 peacocks, both blue and white, and about 300 rare birds of other varieties, including golden pheasants and reeves. After the next incubation period, there will be about 1,000 peacocks and 3,000 kinds of birds.

Since the farm was established in 2011, Xu has won many awards for her achievements as a young woman entrepreneur. Locals have dubbed her Peacock Princess.

"People have only heard about the glamorous side of my career, but they rarely learn of the hardships I have been through," she says. "I weigh less than 50 kilograms, but I can carry two big barrels of water, I can chop the vegetables for the peacocks' food for four hours straight, and during the incubation period, I get up to monitor the eggs every two hours at night.

During the first year, to save money, she did most of the work herself. The farm has four workers now, but she still have to spend all the holidays on the farm because no one wants to work at that time.

Xu's talent for business first showed during her university days.

While her classmates were watching Western TV series or entertainment shows, Xu was watching the CCTV agricultural channel, showing particular interest in the Agricultural Business program. She came from a rural family, but unlike many of her peers who dreamed of settling in the city, she always planned to return to village life someday.

After graduating from Jilin University with a degree in marketing, Xu found a job with a competitive salary in Changhcun, the provincial capital. She did well in the company and was promoted to sales manager.

Her relatives saw her success as a good example to follow in educating their children, but Xu left her job and said she would return to village life and set up her own business.

The move met with strong opposition from her parents and relatives. But Xu knew she had been preparing for it since first day at university.

She used most of her savings to buy an abandoned school in her village and signed a long-term contract to rent the land behind the school.

"With the farm business gradually getting better and the farm beginning to make money, some villagers and especially some of my relatives have changed their attitude toward me."

The first impression you get on arriving at the farm is neatness. There are rows of cages, each containing a few birds, along with fruit trees, flowers and other plants. The place is more like a small zoo or nature park. "Peacocks are very sensitive to noise. To keep them calm and in a good mood, I often play light music for them."

An adult peacock with brilliant features can sell for 3,000 to 4,000 yuan ($480 to $640; 360 euros to 470 euros). It takes three to five years for them to mature, and during this time, there are no profits, only costs.

But the farm's business is improving day by day. "I am the daughter of a rural family and I was aware of the difficulties my parents went through to raise me and my sister. I want to help more villagers escape from poverty."

Contact the writers through hena@chinadaily.com.cn

Ding Luyang contributed to this story.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/13/2014 page29)