Orchid kingdom

Helping researchers has earned Guo a stable income, which he has invested in his orchid kingdom.

In 2004, he began planting Dendrobium on a plot of a little over 1 hectare.

"Although the area is mostly karst rocks, it is an excellent place for the orchids to grow," Guo said, adding that the area is known for its misty weather, with about 260 foggy days a year around Daxichang, weather perfect for growing orchids.

"I don't need to water them at all."

Since leasing additional land from other villagers, his plantation now extends over 300 hectares. He has devoted himself in part to breeding and growing 100 species of Dendrobium on 130 hectares of land, which produce 20 metric tons of edible fresh Dendrobium twigs a year.

On one 67-hectare parcel, Guo is growing between 500-600 species of orchids he has found in the wild over the years. Native to Malipo's karst forests, they flourish on his plantation, which has become a kind of orchid kingdom.

In May 2018, the International Conference on Wild Orchid Conservation, held that year in Hong Kong, chose Guo's plantation for its on-site research. Sixteen orchid experts from eight countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, visited his gardens that September.

Because of his extensive collection of wild orchids and excellent growing skills, Guo has been invited to help design orchid gardens in other provinces and to introduce species he has grown to them.

"My orchids can be found in the botanical gardens in a number of big cities," he said.

His success with orchids is now shared by other families in the county. Over the years, he has held dozens of training courses and taught around 1,000 farmers how to grow Dendrobium orchids, and the plant has become a major source of revenue in Malipo.

He has also won numerous government and academic honors over the years. Despite this, neither of Guo's children plans to carry on his work. "This life is too hard and lonely for them," he explained.

His son works with the local government as a temporary worker, and his daughter lives in the county seat.

Guo employs six families to help him take care of his plantation, and although he spends between 400,000-500,000 yuan a year on seasonal workers, he and his wife still do most of the work themselves.

To that degree, it could be said that Guo is the lonely king of his remote orchid kingdom.