CRI听力:Environmental-friendly Approaches in Yunnan: A Win-win for Economy and Environment

Surrounded by clean waters and green hills, Wuding County is famous for Lion Mountain, a top-class scenic area, and 'Wu-ding Chicken' — a delicacy that used to be sent to the imperial palace as a tribute, starting with the Ming dynasty 600 years ago.

Li Guozhong runs a chicken farm in Wuding. He says the local product is of high quality and is more nutritious compared with other chickens.

"Wuding chickens have bigger frames, tender meat, light bones, and a delicious taste. It contains more Amino acid than other chickens."

Though the well-known Wuding chicken has high economic value, Yunnan's mountainous terrain limits its potential for large-scale raising.

In response, the local government has found a solution to support big poultry breeders. Pure-bred chicks are bred and then provided to local small farmers to be raised. This method has proven to be very profitable. For example, Li Guozhong had 18 chickens 6 years ago. Now he has more than 14,000.

"In the future, I'd like to develop a whole production chain for Wuding chicken. Let more farmers gain profits from this industry. We also want to optimize the breeder flock of Wuding chicken."

Along with raising Wuding chicken, local farmers make full use of the scenic beauty of Lion Mountain to develop Agritourism. Shao Ruhua is one of the local farm tourism operators. He says agritourism is a win-win approach for both the economy and the environment.

"Lion Mountain covers an area of 16.8 square kilometers. It has been very famous since ancient times. Now, it is a top class scenic area. I ran the first farm tourism agency here. Now, there are 28 agencies altogether. We make full use of natural resources. At the same time, we protect it very well."

No matter it developing sustainable husbandry or developing agritourism, the local government and people attach great importance to environmental protection, and say that a sound economy should be based on a good environment.

For CRI, I'm Yu Yang.