The greenhouse at the Dongli Farm is surrounded by fruit trees. CHINA DAILY

In the past 10 years, a handful of farms growing seasonal fruit were developed while 10 new varieties including quinoa, lingzhi and oryza, or Japanese rice, were introduced.

The county has also established 40 fruit-picking bases covering 233 hectares. In peak season, the bases attract 3,000 visitors on average each day.

Last year, 500,000 tourists paid to go fruit picking in the county, which helped increase residents' annual income by 10,000 yuan on average to 35,028 yuan, according to the local government.

Sun is betting on his high-end products bringing him greater returns. He also planted sanghuang, a hoof-shaped mushroom that grows in the wild on mulberry trees, in the greenhouse. It has higher nutritional value than lingzhi and can help strengthen the immune system.

Sun believes most of his mushroom spore buyers will be wealthy businesspeople from Zhejiang with an interest in health products.

He also hopes to draw from his current base of customers who buy produce directly from his farm via a WeChat account.