Henan Nanyang: High-Quality Power Services Fuel the Thriving “Lotus Economy”

On November 1, a reporter visiting the Zhongyuan Lotus Expo Park in Yinying Village, Yangying Town, Zhenping County, Nanyang City, Henan Province, was greeted by a stunning rural scene. The verdant lotus ponds mirrored the blue sky and white clouds, as small boats glided gracefully through the water, brimmed with fresh lotus leaves and plump seed pods, creating a picturesque and harmonious countryside landscape.

In recent years, the local government has been actively developing the “Lotus Economy,” integrating “ecology + tourism + specialty agriculture” to create a unique regional brand. The Zhongyuan Lotus Expo Park and specialized lotus-growing villages have been established, with nearly 20,000 mu (approximately 1,333 hectares or 3,300 acres) of lotus planted countywide, including six major planting bases exceeding 1,000 mu each, 23 specialized planting cooperatives and 25 large-scale growers managing over 500 mu each. The lotus industry has become a prominent and appealing industrial highlight in the county, with the power supply department playing a crucial role in this development.

“Our expo park alone covers over 2,000 acres of lotus for viewing, with more than 300 varieties of rare ornamental lotus from both domestic and international sources introduced and cultivated, along with over 50,000 rare flowers and landscape trees planted. Attractions like the Hundred Lotus Garden, Lotus Integrity Cultural Corridor, Lotus Pond Moonlight, and local product exhibitions offer a variety of tourism experiences. Combined with nearby agritourism farms, eco-parks, and industrial parks, these initiatives form an industrial cluster that can attract up to 130,000 tourists annually,” explained Xue Yanxu, the mayor of Yangying Town.

Capitalizing on the lotus ponds, the local area has expanded into industries such as vegetable lotus and ornamental lotus seedling cultivation, alongside the processing of lotus leaves, seeds, and roots. “We have successively built 4,200 square meters of greenhouses and over 20 production workshops, exhibition halls, e-commerce bases, and warehousing and logistics centers,” stated the head of the Yangying Power Supply Service Station. “Processing lotus leaf and seed products,as well as pumping water for the ponds, requires substantial electricity. Our power supply department has integrated the development of the lotus specialty industry into new rural electrification initiatives, investing over 1 million yuan. We have increased transformer installations, optimized the power grid structure, and enhanced power supply quality, providing reliable electricity support for the development of core ecological tourism areas and specialty agriculture, aquaculture, and handicraft industries. This involvement has spurred farmers to engage in various production activities, benefiting over 2,000 people.”

State Grid Zhenping County Power Supply Company has also forged “one-to-one” connections with various planting bases and processing cooperatives, regularly organizing party member service team visits to conduct on-site inspections and extended services, assisting with inspecting electric wells, transformers, and distribution rooms for electrical safety hazards, and timely rectifying issues such as aging or damaged lines and improper equipment installation to guarantee safe, stable and reliable electricity for lotus cultivation and related processing. Currently, the county has developed dozens of products such as lotus leaf tea, lotus flower pastries, lotus seed rice, crispy lotus root slices, and lotus seed soup, which are top sellers on major e-commerce platforms.

“Sufficient power has fueled our industrial upgrading. This year, we have actively explored an ‘ecological planting and breeding’ model, developing lotus-fish polyculture and crayfish farming, achieving ‘dual use of water, double harvest in one field, and multi-win with one move.’ The polyculture model yields over 15,000 yuan per mu (approximately 0.067 hectares), more than double the traditional planting benefits,” explained Chu Guolin, a leading grower, “Our town’s lotus industry has successfully redeployed over 4,000 workers locally, becoming a flagship industry for the county’s specialty agriculture.”