Inside a 1,000-mu (66.7-hectares) golden gualou (Trichosanthes kirilowii) plantation in Wangbanzhuang village, Rendian town, Queshan county, Zhumadian, Henan province, vines heavy with bright-yellow fruit wind along trellises. More than 20 villagers pick, pack, and shuttle the crop to three-wheelers waiting nearby. Plastic buckets and woven sacks overflow as the harvest reaches its peak. Weaving through the rows, technicians from the local power-supply company inspect every irrigation line and pump-control box, ensuring electricity during this crucial window.
"In the past, the outlying plots had no electricity; we carried water on our backs, and the plants often wilted from drought," said Hao Laifu, plantation head and village Party branch director, gesturing at the thriving vines. "Now power reaches the edge of every field. One click starts irrigation or drainage — yields are up 30 percent over last year!"
Leveraging the fertile soil and mild climate, Wangbanzhuang has made gualou its signature product under the "one village, one product" initiative, expanding to 1,200 mu of standardized cultivation. Growth outstripped the old 0.4-kilovolt network: pumps stalled, plots lay beyond reach, and the crop was in jeopardy. After a single site visit, the county power-supply company delivered a gratis design, erected a 200-kilovolt-ampere transformer and 1.2 kilometers of new line over the course of 15 days, and pushed three-phase power to the last row of vines — eliminating the irrigation bottleneck.
Processing is equally power-dependent. Inside the village workshop, gualou seeds whirl in automated separators while ovens dry the rind to pharma-grade slices. "Full-capacity production needs 24-hour, failure-free power — one blackout and an entire batch is ruined," said Ding Xuefeng, plant manager. To safeguard the line, the utility's Communist Party service squad conducts monthly thermographic scans, tightens connections, and affixes anti-collision labels on poles along the access road, guaranteeing zero electrical interruptions.
"Eighty yuan ($11.29) a day right at my doorstep — I can look after the kids and still earn cash," said Zhang Guilan while she graded seeds. The plantation now provides stable jobs for more than 50 locals, and branded products such as "Dashi Jinlou" and "Jinyun Pharmaceutical" are sold across Henan and beyond. Reliable electricity has turned the fruit into a genuine goldmine, bolstering rural vitalization and shared prosperity for every household in Wangbanzhuang.
