Chinese villager savours pennies from heaven as annual floods sweep river's fish into her ponds
Nature’s bounty has helped Yang Dan earn up to 300,000 yuan a year from all the fish and led her to turn her home in Chongqing municipality into an unlikely tourist attraction
A Chinese villager’s fish ponds are providing an unexpected – but welcome – income thanks to flooding of a nearby river, which sweeps many thousands of fish onto her land each year.
“It’s been only six days into the annual flooding season, but there are already fish weighing more than 500 catty in the ponds that can be sold for about 40,000 yuan [ HK$50,000] ,” Yang Dan told Chongqing Morning Post on Saturday.
Nature’s bounty has led her to turn her home in Ningchang township, in Wuxi county, in northeastern Chongqing municipality, into an unlikely tourist attraction.
Last weekend, during the annual Dragon Boat Festival holiday, more than 1,000 curious visitors paid a 5 yuan entrance fee to look at the fish in her three ponds; the fish are sold to nearby restaurants, which enjoy a busy trade catering to all the visitors.
Yang’s home was also featured on CCTV’s science channel over the weekend.
Her ponds can hold about 500 catty of fish at any one time, which are swept on to her land every year whenever the Daning River floods.