Although the season of blooming roses has just passed, the fragrance of bitter water roses continues in Yongdeng County—the sweet aroma of baking fills the air, research centers are busy with research, and e-commerce sales are steadily rising, all witnessing this sweet industry continuously revitalizing life.
In recent years, Yongdeng County has deeply cultivated the Kushui Rose specialty industry, taking the construction of the "Shui Run Rose Fragrance" rural revitalization demonstration belt as a key initiative. Aiming to create a national-level demonstration zone for integrated industrial development, Yongdeng County has promoted the industry's full-chain upgrade from raw material cultivation to deep processing and brand promotion. The total industrial chain output value has exceeded 2.8 billion yuan, making it a pillar industry, livelihood industry, and happiness industry for strengthening the county and enriching the people.
A single rose can increase the income at the farmer's doorstep
"43 jin of flower buds for 301 yuan, 76 jin of flower crowns for 608 yuan......" At the purchase station of Gansu Dahouyin Rose Technology Co., Ltd., flower farmers still come to sell fresh flowers. This year, over 2 mu of land can earn 13,000 yuan. Flower farmer Xue Qing told reporters. It is understood that in the flower purchasing segment alone, the company can help about 1,500 farmers in Kushui Town find employment close to home.
Reporters walked along National Highway 312, where Kushui Town, Hongcheng Town, and Datong Town are all major production areas for Kushui roses, with the air throughout the region filled with a refreshing floral fragrance. During the harvest season, Zhang Xiaoming, the first secretary of the village work team stationed in Yushan Village, Hongcheng Town, had his phone as a "hotline." While coordinating the setup of purchase points and inquiring about purchase prices, he also shared real-time queue numbers and price updates at each point in the "Ping An Yushan" WeChat group. "We have to make the most of the time." Zhang Xiaoming said, "The purchase price for flower buds is higher than for flowers. If you pick them before they bloom, your income can double." ”
It is understood that relying on the rose industry, Yongdeng County has adopted models such as supply and marketing cooperation, order management, land equity contribution, labor incentives, loan dividends, and insurance stable income. Currently, 50,000 farmers are engaged in Kushui rose cultivation, with an average annual income increase of over 10,000 yuan.
Bao Yongxiang, who lives in Guojiadun Village, Datong Town, works in the flower picking workshop of Gansu Dongfang Tianrun Rose Technology Development Co., Ltd. When the reporter saw her, she and her colleagues were selecting intact and vibrant petals to rush orders for cosmetic ingredients to be shipped to Guangdong. "Working right at home, I can earn over 5,000 yuan a month." She was quite satisfied with her income.
Hu Binjun, a villager from Yushan Village, Hongcheng Town, Yongdeng County, has focused on the entire supply chain. In 2016, he registered and established the Yongdeng Tianqin Planting Farmers' Professional Cooperative, helping over 1,000 growers prosper. The highest annual dividend for 97 Yushan Village shareholders was 5,000 yuan.
Leading enterprises are driving accelerated industrial development
Stepping into Gansu Dongfang Tianrun Rose Technology Development Co., Ltd., located in Wangjiaping Village, Datong Town, Yongdeng County, a wave of rose fragrance greets you, refreshing and refreshing. Although the picking season has passed, behind the factory lies a rose plantation covering more than 2,000 mu, lush green rose trees and gently rippling pale blue lake waters. Various ornamental roses and flowers bloom in competition, making visitors enchanted and reluctant to leave.
"Dongfang Tianrun is a comprehensive rose industry development company integrating rose seedling cultivation, planting, purchasing, new product research and development, processing, sales, and tourism." General Manager Wang Zuopeng introduced that a group of farmer technical experts who have fully mastered standardized planting management techniques has been cultivated, laying a solid foundation for the long-term development of the rose planting base. The company developed the "Bitter Water Rose" green branch cutting technology by developing green branch cutting-propagation technology and obtained a patent authorization for the Chinese Bitter Water Rose cutting technology. Additionally, a rose flower extraction production line capable of processing 3,000 tons per year has been introduced, filling the gap in the rose flower extract field.
In the essential oil extraction workshop of Gansu Dahooyin Rose Technology Co., Ltd., 15 fully automatic intelligent temperature-controlled distillation kettles operate around the clock, precisely separating rose essential oil and hydrosol to ensure every rose is efficiently utilized. "In the past, we relied solely on purchasing flowers picked by farmers and drying them for export, resulting in a single product range and thin profits. Now, with this fully automated equipment, they have achieved independent production of essential oils and hydrosols, with products directly sold to Guangdong and other regions, increasing revenue several times over. "The company's head shared the changes brought by the equipment update.
"Integration of the three industries" paves the way for rural revitalization
In recent years, Kushui Town in Yongdeng County has allowed the traditional Kushui Rose to bloom with a new era of "integration of three industries" through a full industrial chain layout, painting a rich picture of rural revitalization.
Technology empowerment, foundational construction for the primary industry. Kushui Town has leveraged the advantage of "Ganwei" agricultural product varieties and innovated the "cooperative + farmer" development model. By implementing the "Ten Thousand Mu Ten Thousand Tons Super Rose Plan," the planting area has exceeded 20,000 mu, with yield per mu increased to 400 kilograms. By introducing high-quality varieties such as "Kushui Rose New No.1," the harvesting cycle has been extended, helping farmers increase their average income by over 3,000 yuan per mu. Currently, the town's annual flower production reaches 8 million kilograms and is dedicated to building the largest Kushui Rose planting base in the country.
Innovation-driven, secondary industry leaps forward. Driven by leading companies such as Lanzhou Jiuxiang, Dashouyin, and Dongmei Yuchi, Kushui Rose has transformed from "selling by the weight" to "selling by the weight." Through school-enterprise cooperation and technological innovation, it has developed six major product series, including rose essential oil, skincare products, and health beverages. Among them, Jiuxiang Company's pioneering rose and lily composite product fills a market gap; Dahouyin Company achieved annual sales of 12 million yuan through "live streaming + e-commerce"; and Dongmei Yuchi's joint development with Landa has obtained national patents for new products such as rose fermentation oral liquid and bitter water rose fermented beverage. Currently, the town's rose deep-processing output value has exceeded 40 million yuan, with product added value increasing nearly fivefold.
Integration of culture and tourism, breakthroughs in the tertiary industry. The Yongdeng County Kushui Rose Cultural Industry Project, developed with an investment of 176 million yuan, has upgraded the overall appearance of Sitan Village in Kushui Town and developed it as a tourism development, decorating it as a new landmark for industrial integration. The project plans to build rose-themed homestays, fragrant wellness centers, intangible cultural heritage workshops, and other functional areas. Through special activities like the "Rose Culture Festival" and "Picking Experience Tours," it attracts over 200,000 visitors annually.
The output value of the entire industry chain has reached 2.8 billion yuan
As of now, the county's Kushui rose planting area has reached 101,600 mu, accounting for nearly 30% of the global rose planting area and about 40% of the national rose planting area. The annual rose production is 28 million kilograms, rose essential oil 1,200 kilograms, dried flower buds 2.6 million kilograms, and the total rose industry chain output value reaches 2.8 billion yuan.
In addition, Yongdeng County has formulated 9 various production and product standards, registered 128 product trademarks for "Ganwei," recognized 7 famous trademarks in Gansu Province, and 10 leading enterprises in the county's rose industry with annual sales revenue exceeding 10 million yuan, including 5 provincial-level key leading enterprises. There are more than 100 farmers' professional cooperatives engaged in the rose industry in the county, including more than 20 demonstration cooperatives at or above the county level.
The county has established 7 specialty rose product stores and 20 rose sales organizations, developed more than 100 rose industry brokers, developed and developed over 180 series of products including cosmetics, beverages, medicines, gifts, food, and health products, and has won more than 20 national-level agricultural product awards. The products are exported to more than 10 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Tianjin, with some exports to Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, France, the United States, and other countries. Yongdeng County has developed into a well-known "Hometown of Chinese Roses."
In September last year, the Lanzhou Municipal People's Government officially released the "Lanzhou Kushui Rose Industry High-Quality Development Plan (2025-2030)," which set a goal to build the main production area of Kushui Rose into the largest, strongest, and most optimal new highland for the rose industry in the country, a pilot base for modern cold-climate agricultural roses, and a demonstration zone for industrial integration by 2030. The goal was to successfully establish a well-known Chinese trademark, build the globally renowned "Kushui Rose" brand, and strive to build a nationally renowned "Rose Capital," with the entire industry chain achieving an output value of 6 billion yuan.
◆ Reporter's note
Walking through the towns around Kushui Town in Yongdeng County, the rich scent of roses wafts through the air. This "Hometown of Chinese Roses" uses a single bitter water rose as a fulcrum to drive the vigorous development of rural industries, making the fragrance of flowers the scent of happiness for the people to prosper.
In the fields, rose purchasing proceeds in an orderly manner. Relying on diversified models such as contract planting, local employment, and dividend sharing, tens of thousands of local farmers can steadily increase their income without leaving their hometowns. These small roses have truly become "flowers of prosperity" that enrich the people and increase their income.
From the extensive sale of fresh flower raw materials to intelligent deep processing and diversified product development, empowered by leading enterprises and technological innovation, Kushui Rose has achieved a magnificent transformation. A series of deep-processed products have expanded beyond Gansu and are exported domestically and internationally, completely overcoming the development difficulties of low value-added development.
Today, Yongdeng County has built a complete industrial chain integrating "planting + processing + cultural tourism" and the three industries. The 100,000-mu rose base is full of vitality, the aromatic cultural tourism sector continues to heat up, and the output value of the entire industry chain has reached 2.8 billion yuan.
When a flower flourishes, all industries flourish. Rooted in local characteristics, deeply cultivating the industrial chain, and focusing on the integration of the three industries, Yongdeng County has vividly demonstrated the transformation of a single rose, empowering rural revitalization through specialty industries. (Reporter Ge Qiang, text/photos)