At the junction of three provinces and the convergence of two rivers in China’s heartland, and the foothills of Dabie Mountain lies in the beautiful Xin County of Henan province. A view of Xiangshan (Fragrant Mountain) Lake, in Xin County.

Green mountains and clear waters, ancient forests and a meandering stream, rustic houses with eaves made from clay tiles—a Shangri-La displace from time and place. The mountainsides are blanketed with legendary camellia trees, straight and unyielding. Facing the wind, camellia flowers blossom, as white as the snow, wild with rustic beauty.

Facing the wind, camellia flowers blossom, as white as the snow, unpolished but still enchanting.

It is the ancient birthplace of camellia oil. 

Zhouhe Township, in Xin County, is ShanCha’s main camellia oil production base. The local people have made a living out of the wild camellia trees for over 20 generations.

It is also listed as one of the most impoverished counties in China. Xin County and the Dabie Mountain region is one of the poorest in China.

Zhouhe Township lies deep in the mountains. Of the 14,300 residents, there are more than 3,700 farmer households living below the poverty line, with an overall poverty rate of17.6%. (**Statistics derived from Xin County’s public records) These are wild, rugged mountains with steep slopes, cliffs and crags. The narrow winding paths, remote from the main road, are difficult even on foot.. Yet this is also the landscape on which wild camellia trees thrive. On almost every hillside grows wild camellia trees. Every year, after frost descends along the sides of mountain roads, amid the overgrown brambles, camellia flowers bloom in full. During the season when the leaves on most trees wither and fall, the camellia flowers bloom, bright and indomitable. The farmers live scattered among the mountains. Travel remains difficult to this day, and so the yield of the camellia trees make up their livelihood.

For centuries, after storing the oil they needed for their families, the villagers sold the extra hand-pressed camellia oil on the open market. Yet, the entire, exhausting process produced little income. Many families still live in utter destitution, making do with the simplest and crudest of living conditions, with four bare walls and very few possessions to speak of.

People of the region know that camellia oil possesses a treasure trove of advantages and health benefits. It is non-greasy, easy to digest and produces no cooking fumes.

The people who consume the oily daily generally enjoy longer life spans. Although many do not have a specific notion of modern health care, most local people keep the habit of drinking small amounts of camellia oil early in the morning. If a family member becomes ill, the family will feed the sick with food cooked exclusively with camellia oil, because they know from experience that camellia oil aids a speedy recovery. Pregnant women or those in post-natal care also derive many regenerative benefits from its consumption.

There is also the custom of using camellia oil to bathe newborns, because it can protect a baby’s delicate skin. Women often use camellia oil for skin and hair care. It is sometimes more effective in treating scalds or rashes than western medication. Many local farmers believe that these stretches of camellia trees in their villages are treasures bestowed upon them from the heavens, gifts that could potentially lead them to economically sufficient lives. But with the underdeveloped methods of production, they found it was nearly impossible to rise from poverty.

Before the powerful trend of industrialization and urbanization, many families had, for generations, never left this land.

Nowadays, the young generation have boldly left their hometowns and ventured to the big cities, searching for a brighter future. They are strangers to the urban lifestyle, living difficult and unstable lives in the cities, striving for a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. 

As of March 2017, over one third of the prime age inhabitants in Zhouhe Township have left their hometown to be migrant workers, leaving behind 1, elderly parents and nearly 1,000 young children to be raised by their grandparents. (** Statistics derived from Xin County’s public records)

Now only about 6,000 able-bodied laborers stay in the township year round to tend to the needs of the forests. Such limited manpower is far from sufficient. There are a total of 33,000 acres of wild camellia trees, and the high mountains and the dense forests make it difficult to harvest the camellia fruit. Moreover, camellia trees grow interwoven with other other tree species. The top of the mountain woods is made up of large shrubs such as pine trees and Formosan gums, while the camellia trees and other trees are in the middle and at the bottom. Sunshine and moisture are largely taken over by other tree species, causing the yield of camellia fruits to decline and remain low. To remedy the situation, other tree species, especially those large trees capturing the sunshine, need to be trimmed down. This maintenance is called “mountain chopping” among local farmers, but now the majority of strong able-bodied laborers have left for the cities, leaving camellia trees unattended. These old camellia trees that families had lived on for generations are now facing the danger of becoming barren and desolate.

Weizheng Xiong, the president of our parent company Lingrui Group, grew up in a small mountain village in Xin County. Many years ago, he took his first step out of the village, with hardly any money, and founded a pharmaceutical company manufacturing traditional Chinese herbal medicine. It has since developed into an international enterprise. Never did Xiong forget his community back home. He realized that generous donations could improve the poor conditions in his hometown in the short term, but he wanted to do more. He wanted to change the entire economy of the county, to permanently lift all its inhabitants from poverty.

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” And so, Xiong turned his sights to the camellia trees, the gift from the mountains.

Xin County has a latitude of 31.3 degrees north. Located here is the watershed of two major Chinese rivers—the Yangtze and the Huai. It is the northernmost place in China where wild camellia trees grow. Low temperature, hight altitudes, perfect frost-free seasons, fresh air, sufficient sunshine and adequate precipitation all form the ideal natural environment for the 33,000 wild acres of ancient camellia forests. It takes 13 months for camellia seeds to fully mature. The matured camellia seeds appear hard and black, full of nutrients from their long growth cycle. That’s why cold-pressed camellia oil possesses an abundance of health benefits.

As a business with a conscience, we initiated the idea of utilizing the camellia resource, the natural treasure of Xin County, to lift local people out of poverty. 

With this commitment, Lingrui Group has started a new journey--a poverty reduction program through camellia oil. 

Investing in the construction of an industrial oil-press plant

Deep in the mountains, Lüda Camellia Oil Co., Ltd became the first production line for cold-pressed camellia oil.

Lingrui Group created Farmers’ Lüda ® Camellia Specialized Cooperatives that incorporated all 748 poor households in Zhouhe Township as well as the camellia forests themselves. The cooperatives redistributed the camellia forests back to individual households for practical management. The tripartite collaboration of ‘company+farmer households+ rural specialized cooperatives’ changed the form of business management from a decentralized approach to small-scale mechanization. The camellia woods have also been transformed to improve their yield. Though the camellia fruit is still picked by hand, the previously manual job of physical extraction is now operated by machine in a fully sealed, antiseptic press in Xin County. This sustainable and environmentally friendly form of production creates employment opportunities for local farmers at their doorsteps.

Protecting the mountain ecosystem

Lingrui Group endeavors to capitalize on camellia resources while stressing the importance of protecting mountain ecosystems. The first step to protecting the wild camellia woods while improving yield is to remove invasive species around the camellia trees by hand. This gives the trees adequate growing space, sunshine and moisture. Additionally. changing the mountain slopes into terraces, grafting, trimming and land rehabilitation are technical measures that have completely reformed and protected the mountain forests. Using their own resources, Lingrui Group invested considerable manpower, material and financial resources to remove weeds and shrubs, prune the trees and adjust their planting density, one stretch of forest at a time.

Expand the market of camellia oil overseas

With lofty aspirations, Lingrui Group launched a strategy to expand into the international market. The first overseas company, ShanCha Inc. was founded in 2015 in the United States. We aim to introduce this unknown mountain treasure to the outside world. Camellia oil will serve as a bridge between the local farmers of Xin County and the city dwellers who yearn for natural solutions to a healthy lifestyle. We hope the bond will be a harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship.

Our Company: ShanCha®

The CEO of ShanCha Inc. in the U.S. under Lingrui Group is a resourceful, business-savvy Chinese woman, Ms. Jin Wang, who has lived overseas for many years. More than 20 years ago, she worked with Lingrui Group, learned about its founding goal of helping the community from which grew, and has always esteemed Lingrui Group’s social conscience.

Wang has organized and led visits to Xin County on many occasions, both to experience the farmers’ lifestyles and to assess the state of the camellia woods. She has tirelessly sought the most effective way to build the bridge between camellia farmers in Xin County and people in the US and all over the world.

She raised the question: How do we create a strong and long-lasting “hand-in-hand” relationship? How do we help farmers obtain proper benefits and continuously improve their lives? She believes the solutions will attract migrant workers to finally return home and contribute their effort for the prosperity of Xin County, reuniting families and providing proper care from their children and elderly. It will also help preserve the mountain ecosystem, thus safeguarding the camellia forests.

“Our personal efforts are far from enough. We hope more people who are seeking healthy living and have a compassionate heart will join our enterprise.”

Please join the ShanCha Club and become a member. You will not only receive natural healthy camellia oil and the unparalleled service of ShanCha Inc., but also help the camellia farmers in Xin County increase their income, improve their living conditions and provide protection for the ecosystem. All ShanCha Club members are investing in their own health as well as changing the lives of the hard-working farmers in Xin County.

Every year, ShanCha Inc. will organize a camellia wellness tour. Members will have the opportunity to explore the hometown of the camellias—enjoy the breathtaking landscape, discover the secrets of camellia oil and observe and experience the lives of the local farmers

Here, members can identify a section of the camellia forest that will designated for special protection and care, and ShanCha Inc will provide funding for “mountain chopping” and other technical measures. This will contribute to the sustainability of the local ecosystem. Members will also have an opportunity to foster a direct bond with the farmers for a better understanding of their needs, to give them the aid they need most. The camellia oil produced from this land by these people will eventually be served on your and many others’ dinner table.