This week in Guizhou felt different, as we started walking into villagers’ daily lives. After two weeks of exploration, Week 3 was about grounding ourselves in the community’s voice and translating those voices into stories that both speak to hearts and sell with soul. 

Interview the Stories of the Land

To deepen our understanding of this authenticity, we also spent time interviewing local farmers, residents, and youths about their connection to the land.

One story in particular stayed with me: a group of farmers told us how they have persistently chosen to plough their land with cows, rather than machines. To many outsiders, this might seem outdated. Even to some agricultural experts, they believe this practice has a lower yield than mass agricultural practices. But to them, it is a deeply intentional, sustainable practice. While ploughing, the cows help fertilise the land with their faeces, maintaining a natural ecological loop. The process is slower, but as one farmer said, “good rice takes time to grow, just like good stories take time to tell.”

These stories shaped our understanding of the village’s identity. It is not a place “left behind,” but as a place that chooses to move forward in its own way and with its own pace. A place where tradition is not resistance to change, but a form of wisdom.

Learning from the Local Teams

Another important interviewee we had was a local agricultural promotion team, which is a group of passionate villagers who have been using live-streaming to share their products with the world. We curiously observed and learned how they set up their backgrounds, crafted their scripts, chose their language, and interacted with their online audience. We also spotted several challenges they face at work: for instance, they lack proper posters to help demonstrate how organic the product is, or how the product is good for health. 

This observation helped us narrow down the specifics of our marketing strategy. We began working on our first draft of promotional posters for the village’s key agricultural products, especially rice and medicinal herbs. Instead of creating generic “buy this now” posters, we focused on designing with meaning and stories. 

Next week, we’ll move forward with refining our posters, beginning our video shoots, and crafting brand messages that do justice to this village’s integrity. But no matter how far we go, we’ll carry the voices of this land with us, because as the grandpa told me "good stories take time to tell.”