Cooking up a good life

Collective contribution

Ding then visited Huanhe at least three times a week, making more videos about the village.

However, Huanhe is about 26 kilometers from his home, and the mountain road doesn't make traveling easy.

It was not until October 2019 that Ding decided to settle down in the village, when one of his videos featuring Zhang cooking purple sweet potatoes helped a local rural cooperative receive 5,000 orders for its produce.

The video ended up having over 10 million views.

Now, Ding has invited three of his friends to join his new venture.

"I can better focus on making videos here and I think about my future in the tranquil village at night," Ding says.

Ding's arrival has also brought positive changes to the village. He visits the elderly and cooks for them from time to time.

He also made donations to have streetlamps installed, so villagers can see where they are going at night.

Ding has also brought in purple sweet potato seedlings and has encouraged locals to grow them.

"If sales are good online, I will scale up production in the village," Ding says.