Last year, he harvested 90,000 kg of pears. But due to fierce market competition, he did not make a significant profit. This year, Lin said he will be able to bring forward the pear harvest by 20 days, which will give him a higher profit.

"The buds appear earlier than those of common pear trees. As long as I see a little hope, I will make the most beautiful dreams," he said.

Within a month, his farm will turn into a sea of snow-white pear flowers.

"It will be so beautiful you won't want to go anywhere else," Lin said.

Spending 11 months each year on the mainland and often working late into the night, Lin said he has no plans to retire.

But he does have plans to look for his roots in Zhangzhou, which is also located in Fujian, about 400 km away from the provincial capital Fuzhou.

He found his clansmen in Zhangzhou during an agriculture exchange opportunity.

Family archives in Taiwan also show Lin as the sixth generation after his ancestors moved from Fujian to Taiwan.

"I plan to make a copy of some of the records which my clansmen keep in Zhangzhou, so that we will have a complete family tree," Lin said.

He has also introduced many of his former friends in Taiwan to invest and plant on the mainland, in Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces.

"I will not leave this orchard, not until I am too old to walk by myself," Lin said.

By Xie Yu and Zhu Xingxin