A song for the road

Li Zheya first arrived in Beijing from a small village in neighboring Hebei province in the spring of 2004 and started working as a waiter in a hotpot restaurant near Beijing Capital Airport. Then age 18, he worked from 8:30 am to 9 pm at a monthly salary of 450 yuan ($65).

During his two-hour lunch break, he watched flights taking off and landing at a distance while he listened to the catchy songs of the Chinese pop band, Shui Mu Nian Hua.

Li's parents were both farmers. As the youngest child in a poor family with four children, he dreamed of pursuing his happiness in the big city that was in contrast to the village where he was raised－narrow roads, farmland and similar-looking houses.

Sixteen years later, Li, now 34, is a father of two children and has fulfilled his dream as the CEO of an e-commerce company named Jiaxianglaike that literally translates as "guests from hometown", which he co-founded in 2015.

As China steps up poverty alleviation, this online platform has helped farmers promote and sell agricultural products. Li's rags-to-riches journey has also got him media attention.

While the country is fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, Li's company has helped to donate and transport vegetables to Central China's Hubei province, the hardest-hit area.

From Jan 31 to Feb 25, nearly 100 metric tons of donated vegetables and medical supplies were delivered to eight cities in the province.

In support of Hubei

"I return to my hometown every year to celebrate Lunar New Year with my family. Usually, I spend a week in Hebei, visiting relatives and meeting some old friends, but this year was different," Li says.

Upon sensing the severity of the situation caused by the epidemic, starting from Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, and the subsequent lockdown of many cities there, Li and others in the company wanted to donate vegetables.

"When we read the news about food demand in Wuhan, we decided to deliver fresh vegetables, which we have large supplies of thanks to Jiaxianglaike," Li says.

With the help of its customers, the company got the permission to travel in Hubei during the lockdown as some essential services did.

On Jan 31, Li set out from Beijing and spent about 16 hours on the road, delivering 10 tons of Chinese cabbage and 5 tons of baby cabbage to Xiantao city in Hubei. Early the next morning, the vegetables were distributed to local hospitals and people in need for free.

Since then, the company has transported vegetables to Qianjiang, Wuhan and other cities in the province.

Li returned to Beijing on Feb 18 and did a 14-day self-quarantine required of all returning to the city.

"We contacted farmers we've worked with for years. Many offered to help instantly, which enabled us to gather large numbers of vegetables in a short period of time," Li says.

The biggest challenge was to hire bus drivers to deliver the vegetables since few were willing to go to Hubei because of the epidemic.

"It was the farmers who helped us to arrange transportation and also find drivers," Li adds.

Miao Jie, co-founder of Jiaxianglaike, also went to Hubei to deliver vegetables.

Miao was born in Wuhan and moved to Beijing with his parents at age 5. He used to visit Wuhan every year during Spring Festival to see his grandparents.

Since 2015, their online platform has helped farmers from more than 200 counties across the country. Li and Miao traveled to many such counties to meet local farmers and helped them to select and pack the vegetables.

"We've helped them sell their surplus online. Now, they are helping us during this difficult time," Miao said in an interview with Beijing Youth Daily on Feb 5.

"There were few buses on the road, which made the trip very lonely and unusual. But when we saw buses full of supplies with banners saying 'providing support' for Wuhan or Hubei, we felt we were not alone," Miao, 45, added.

The company also donated some medical supplies for Wuhan.

Inspired by workers

Miao, who graduated from Tsinghua University in 1998 with a degree in electronic engineering, is also a member of the pop band, Shui Mu Nian Hua, that Li listened to during his early days in Beijing.

Miao has written a new song titled Brave Road dedicated to people who have offered help to those in need.

Shui Mu Nian Hua means something personally to Li.

"I used to get up at 6 am and finish work late, going straight to bed at that time. When I listened to their songs about friendship, dreams and hometown, I felt happy and hopeful," Li recalls.

"When I met Miao in person five years ago, he was just like a big brother. He was intimate and warm, like their music."

Shui Mu Nian Hua was founded in 2001 by Tsinghua University graduates Lu Gengxu and Li Jian. In 2002, Miao, who taught himself to play the guitar in high school and sang as a member of a Tsinghua choir later, quit his job at a leading US computer maker and joined the group.

In 2006, drawn to the reputation of the university because of the band, Li started working in a canteen there.

"That changed my life. I met lots of students and teachers who inspired me to further my studies," says Li, who dropped out of school in 2000 because his family was too poor to afford his tuition fees.

After getting married in 2007 and having his first son in 2008, Li decided to take the national higher-education exam for adults. Some students and teachers he met at Tsinghua gave him free classes two hours a night. In 2009, he enrolled in Beijing Normal University, where he majored in computer science.

"My parents and my wife didn't believe that I could study in such a great university. But I made it," says Li.

After graduation, he worked in an internet company in Beijing, making about 6,000 yuan a month.

In 2011, he joined an online-education company in Beijing as vice-president, a move that later turned Li into an entrepreneur.

"Some friends from my hometown asked me to help them get jobs in Beijing as they felt I had become successful in the city. But they were not highly educated and barely knew English," says Li.

Then he quit his stable job and launched a charity in 2012, offering free classes to young migrant workers in Beijing and helping them prepare for the national higher-education exam for adults.

Many people, such as university students and teachers in Beijing, joined Li's charity as volunteers, including Miao.

So far, more than 3,000 migrant workers ages 20 to 40 have been admitted to universities after the training.

The idea of Jiaxianglaike was first shaped by the migrant workers who joined Li's classes. They brought agricultural products from their hometowns as gifts for one another, which inspired Li and Miao to start the e-commerce platform.