823.7 Acres of wide papaya in Changyang, Yichang not only is a huge garden for tourists to visit, but also the source of wealth for local farmers, which has gradually transformed as local farmers’ “green bank”

On June 8, Yang Sheng, director of Changyang Tourist Administration told the reporter that this species is mainly planted in Langping Town, Changyang County, western Hubei Province, called Ziqiu Chaenomeles speciosa, and it is an excellent herbal medicine. After decades of plantation, the papaya planting area in Langping Town has reached 9,884.2 acres, accounting for 70% of total pharmaceutical papaya. And Ma PingVillage has the longest history of planting Ziqiu Chaenomeles speciosa, with the largest concentrative planting area of papaya. In Ma PingVillage, 280 farmers, who mainly dwell in Qu’an Edge and Yanzi Rock almost, replace all the other crops with papaya, with concentrative papaya trees covering 823.7 Acres, and all papaya trees stretching 13 square kilometers.

Qin Junwen, a farmer of Group 3 of Ma Village, who started planting papaya in 1993, over 20 years’ cultivation, now owns 6.6 acres of papaya which is expanded from the initial 10 papaya trees . He now owns the largest area of papaya in Ma Ping Village, whose annual net income reaches nearly 15,117 dollars. He has set up a "Cooperation  for Chang Yang Prunes and Papaya", and is running a "Ginkgo Agritainment". Besides, he has become a national model of agricultural technology.

One of the features of papaya growers in Ma PingVillage is beautifying the courtyard. Besides planting over 3.3 acres of papaya trees, farmer Qin Haibo and Qin Wenjiong also planted sightseeing fruit trees, such as persimmon, pomegranate in front of or behind the houses. Today, 280 farmers living in papaya growing areas, have their houses surrounded by papaya trees, flowers and other fruit trees. In flowering season, this area becomes a unique landscape.

Papaya garden and the natural forest have integrated into a whole. In spring, when the papaya flowers are in full blossom, the sea of flowers is spectacular and rather glamorous with the green edge of forest; in summer, the powdery green papayas hang over the branches like jadeite jade. Viewing from a distance, the green papaya trees and natural forests turn the Ma PingVillage into a blue sea of forest, with aforest coverage rate over 98%; in autumn, the leaves of chestnut trees, sumac, engelhardtia and other trees turn into golden yellow and red, which are in stark contrast to the papaya trees’ leaves which slowly become gray. The scenery of red and yellow leaves in the air, and gray foliage on the ground is so beautiful; in winter, all the leaves of papaya trees are off. The weird-shaped papaya trees with gnarled and twisted branches which are like claws are quiet interesting.

The local papaya growers have an eye for tourism, as every household makes papaya wine and fresh papaya preserves, and more than 20 households run rural inns or offer entertainments experiencing rural life. In order to boost the development of rural tourism, the Changyang government has broadened the roads across the papaya parks and has built an ecological papaya flower square in the central area for tourists. (Reporter Zhang Yuangang, Deng Fucun, Correspondent Chen Rong, Liu Hongjin)