Brooms and the straw that unbroke a camel's back

In order to satisfy diverse needs, Ge began to customize products and services, for example meeting the demand of Zhanjiang Airport in Guangdong province by pro-ducing smaller brooms suitable for use on aircraft.

"Our brooms used to sell for as low as 8 yuan," Gao said. "With Ge they're more than double the price. My wife and I now make 10,000 brooms a year (relying on) about 1.4 hectares of broom straw, Kochia scoparia. Together, we now make more than 100,000 yuan a year."

In 2018 all the registered impoverished households in the village were no longer in poverty, and the straw plantation in the village now covers more than 46.7 hectares.

In 2019 a broom factory was established in the village employing 20 workers, all local old people.

"They work around eight hours a day and each can earn 130 yuan a day on average," Ge said.

To help those for whom walking is difficult Ge continues to collect brooms at the doors of their homes.