China's newly implemented Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to ensure that the benefits of development are shared by all ethnic groups. High on the Tibetan Plateau, rows of Damask roses are blooming. They've created jobs, brought new opportunities, and helped many local Tibetan women build more independent lives without leaving their hometowns. Our reporter Tao Yuan takes us to Xiaojin County.
This is the Damask Rose, named after the Syrian capital.
One of the most prized flowers in the perfume industry, it's long been grown in Bulgaria, Iran, and Turkey.
Now, it's taking root in an unlikely place – China's Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
Four o'clock in the morning, Li Deqin is already in the fields with her family.
The flowers are best picked before sunrise when the petals hold the most fragrance.
LI DEQIN Flower Farmer in Xiaojin County "The sky is starting to brighten. We have to hurry."
This is Xiaojin County, on the eastern edge of the Plateau. Here, these roses are blooming at more than 3,000 meters above sea level.
TAO YUAN XIAOJIN COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE "There are very few vast fields of roses stretching as far as the eyes can see. What dominates are these small, family-run rose plots. That means these farmers, mostly women and the elderly, can work right outside their home, tend to their fields, and look after their family at the same time."
In China's western regions like Sichuan, Yunnan, and Xizang, women have become a growing force in agriculture-based industries.
It's not just about growing the economy. It's about bringing opportunity, and a sense of dignity, to people once left behind.
LI DEQIN Flower Farmer in Xiaojin County "Life used to be really hard. Women stayed home with the kids, relying on the men to earn money. Now, with roses, we women can earn our own income."
It all started with this woman some 15 years ago, Chen Wanghui, a village Party official, an entrepreneur, known simply as "Rose Sister."
She heard Damask rose oil was called "liquid gold." But she wasn't dreaming so big.
CHEN WANGHUI ROSE SISTER "Forget gold. As long as it does better than our potatoes and beans, I'm happy."
Li Deqin was among the first to join the effort, but only as a casual experiment.
LI DEQIN Flower Farmer in Xiaojin County "Rose Sister came to our village and gave us free seedlings. We didn't cherish them. We didn't bother to fertilize or weed. In the first year, we sold them for 60 yuan."
From there, the roses – and the profits – began to bloom.
LI DEQIN Flower Farmer in Xiaojin County "The bushes had grown bigger. In the second year, we sold 500 yuan. That's when people in the village realized they were valuable. In the third year, I sold 5,000 yuan. In the fourth year, more than 12,000. In recent years, our family makes 20,000 to 30,000 yuan every flower season."
The morning sun is still fresh in the sky. The truck to collect the harvest is already in the village.
Today, Li Deqin's family picked 140 kilos, a harvest that will bring in more than 800 yuan.
Chen Wanghui pays about 30 percent above China's average market price, confident in the quality of these blooms.
CHEN WANGHUI ROSE SISTER "Our rose petals are thicker, the blooms are bigger, and there are more buds. We irrigate with snowmelt water and use farmyard manure."
At this local factory, the roses take on new lives. The freshest ones are hand-selected for flower tea.
The rest are distilled into essential oil and rose water, bound for cosmetics and food.
CHEN WANGHUI ROSE SISTER "It takes about 300 roses to produce a single drop of essential oil. This is the legendary 'liquid gold' that inspired me to plant them."
Today, these products travel far beyond Xiaojin, to markets in Japan, Korea, and Bulgaria.
This once-isolated mountain village is now trading with the world.
CHEN WANGHUI ROSE SISTER "We've become stricter about planting and processing. Only by setting high standards can we reach the market and open a broader path."
For Li Deqin, these flowers also mean more than just income. From a housewife to a main provider for the family, she's become a role model for her children.
LI JIUZHANG Li Deqin's Son "I've always felt my mom is a strong woman. Even if the sky falls off, she could hold it up for us. Life's getting better, and I tell her, don't save everything. Be good to yourself."
And she listens.
LI DEQIN Flower Farmer in Xiaojin County "For example, face cream. I used to use a cream that cost one and a half yuan. Now it's over a hundred. Not fancy, but so much better than before."
CHEN WANGHUI ROSE SISTER "This is nature's gift. When I see so many villagers smiling because of these roses, I want to give everything I have and hold nothing back."
And that devotion is reshaping both the land and the lives here. Tao Yuan, CGTN, Xiaojin County in Sichuan Province.
