Big strides in rural reform

In addition to growing vegetables and fruits, the farm has many agricultural science classes and a garden sporting activities suitable for children and their parents. Each March, some 100,000 tulips bloom quietly, decorating the entire farm in a sea of red, yellow, pink and purple flowers.

In December 2019, Tianye countryside park was rated as a national 4A tourist scenic spot by the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

As Zhou realized the importance of education, the group started covering tuition fees for its primary and senior middle school students soon after it became better off. Each child born in the group is paid a monthly education and living allowance of 1,000 yuan from birth to high school graduation, and if the students are admitted to university and pledge to work in the group upon graduation, they will be given an annual education and living allowance of between 15,000 and 25,000 yuan each.

Co-operating with China University of Geosciences, the group has a postdoctoral program. In 2000, it set up a campus of Wuhan University at East Lake, an important institute of higher learning in the province, in cooperation with Wuhan University. With the approval of the Ministry of Education, the campus at East Lake changed its name to Wuhan Donghu University in 2011. More than 72,000 students have graduated from the university and 23,000 students are on its campuses in Wuhan and Jiayu.

The Jiayu campus, which can accommodate 50,000 students, is in close proximity to Tianye countryside park. With an investment of 2.6 billion yuan, the campus' first-phase construction started in October 2020. It began enrolling students in the autumn of 2022, says Chu Xin, vice-president of the university.