Guo Minjie, a retired Shandong woman, has taken four years to change a wasteland into a flourishing orchard in Daishan, a county administered by Zhoushan city in China's east coastal province of Zhejiang, local media reported on Aug 27.

In 2016, a vast stretch of flat ground in Daidong town, Daishan caught Guo's attraction on her way to her house in Daishan, but there was a foul smell in the air.

It turned out that the ground used to be a pig farm.

"The ground enjoys a good geographical position with a river to the front and a green mountain at back and is also close to a scenic spot," Guo said.

As a result, she decided to create an orchard on the wasteland.

The establishment of the orchard began the same year. Guo used the pig effluent and remains of pigs as base fertilizers for the orchard, which not only reduced pollution, but also saved her lots of money.

In 2017, Guo improved the infrastructure of the orchard by establishing greenhouses, irrigation systems and reservoirs.

The orchard now has 2,600 fruit trees, including loquat trees, pear trees, peach trees, hawthorn trees and cherry trees, according to Guo.

Next, she plans to attract visitors to the orchard for fruit picking and sightseeing of the beautiful surrounding landscape and scenic spots as well as continuing to restore and beautify the natural environment.

Guo Minjie, a retired Shandong native, is a talented and inspired woman who takes four years to change a wasteland into an orchard in Daishan. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]