Guiyang gives retiree a second career

Lee Chao-hung talks with visitors at one of his farms in Guizhou.  Photo provided to China Daily

Lee Chao-hung, 73, never expected life after retirement would mean a new career－thousands of miles away from home.

In 1998, at the age of 57, when everyone thought Lee could sit down and enjoy retirement, a trip to the mainland changed everything.

"I was invited to run some market research in Guiyang," Lee recalls. The city is capital of Guizhou province, which was considered to be one of the most poverty-stricken regions in China at the time.

"I have been to many mainland cities before, but I decided to stay in Guizhou the moment I arrived," he says, believing that the opportunity and great potential there would expand his business.

Lee has worked as a pig breeder in Taiwan since he graduated from college.

Guizhou, for him, is a wonderland for taking risks but he received little support from his family and friends for heading to a remote place that suffers such poverty.

Many of his friends told him that staying in a coastal area like Zhejiang or Fujian provinces would be a better choice with the advanced transportation and communications.

He was also told it's easier to travel between Taiwan and those provinces.

However, Lee was determined to go to Guizhou, as he believed the less-developed region could bring more opportunities.

Lee started his adventure by renting a barn in the suburbs of Guiyang to run a feed business, with an investment of 8 million yuan ($1.28 million), while exploring more business opportunities.