One side is the gorge and clear water, while the other side\'s hills bloom with citrus. At the dam area of Three Gorges Project, you can see such a sight every autumn and winter in recent years.

    This month, in the first county in the Three Gorges reservoir area, namely Qu Yuan\'s hometown ---- Zigui County, 26 acres of navel orange come into the harvest period. With the total output of 330,000 tons, it made a record high. Tian Yi Zi Gui Citrus Cooperatives\' chairman Gao said navel orange grows particularly good this year, sales also very good, many navel oranges was booked by merchants when they are still on the trees.

    Soil and climatic conditions in the Three Gorges region is particularly suitable for citrus. As early as 2000 years ago, Qu Yuan wrote a famous poem ----"Ode to the Oranges" . Today, Zigui navel orange with seedless fruit, crisp flesh and juicy body, sweet and fragrant smell sold well both in and abroad. Navel orange industry is not only an pillar industry of Zigui agriculture, but also paved the way to rich for 50,000 village farmers of 11 towns and 135 village and the Three Gorges migrants. "Zigui navel orange varieties in breed, the fresh fruit grows all year round. Many of the Three Gorges immigrant families employed in the professional cultivation throughout the year .There is no need for them to go out to work since they can have more than ￥100,000 in revenue per year. "Gao Qiang told reporters.

    Yiling District of Yichang City, which is next to Zigui, is located in the seat of the Three Gorges Dam. It has the reputation of "Hometown of Chinese Precocious Mandarin Oranges ", and "Chinese Citrus Town" . According to statistics, the existing 10 towns of Yiling District has nearly 60,000 farmers with citrus-based industry with the planting area of 335,000 acres and the annual output of 600,000 tons or more.

    Yang Shihua, a villager of Mu Tong village, Yaqueling town, Yiling District said: "In our village, almost every household plant orange trees. I have 25 acres of citrus species at present, the annual harvest is more than ￥200,000 which turned several repeated compared with plant rice. "

     In order to prompt the citrus industry, Yiling District vigorously support cooperatives citrus, citrus and other deep-processing enterprises. The region exists more than 70 citrus processing enterprises , only the commercialization of citrus processing directly increase the income of farmers each year more than ￥60,000,000.

    Besides the citrus industry, the tea industry is also a pillar industry of local agricultural and enriching industry. Yiling District made a goal of creating the well-known "Hometown of orange and tea”. By establishing efficient standard tea, promoting industrialized operation of tea, it made a strong impetus to the economic development of the tea industry. Currently, the districts\' tea painted area covers 210,000 acres, with the output value of ￥5,5 bln involving 100,000 farmers of 8 towns of 145 villages.

    Thanks to the new policy of rural property rights system, in Xiabaoping, a village only 28 km away from the Three Gorges Dam , agricultural industrialization leading enterprises Xiu Shui Tian Xiang Tea Company founded the land stock cooperatives. It give farmers a price of￥6000 per mu per share. The Land shares cooperatives unified planning reform, agricultural distribution and sales management, farmers and turnover share dividends by stock equity. 3,000 local farmers became a shareholder, transformed from farmers to cooperatives investors and then to the tea factory workers.

    Chen Kun from Shibawan Villager said, his family has 8. 1 mu of contracted land, in the past it only produces one season of rice every year, earning less than ￥5,000, now the couple can earn about ￥20,000 a year, and they are really very happy.  (Xinhua News Agency reporters Liu Ziling, Wu Zhi, Liang Jianqiang (Xinhua News Agency, Yichang, December 17)