HANGZHOU, July 15 (Xinhua) -- For some villagers in east China's mountainous Jingning She Autonomous County, each tiny potted plant could be a green coin jingling toward a richer tomorrow.

Established in 1984, Jingning in Zhejiang Province is China's sole autonomous county of the She ethnic group. The county has 779 peaks over 1,000 meters high, with villages that are scattered, sparsely populated and mostly elderly.

Surrounded by neat rows of vibrant, fleshy succulents in all shapes and colors, Wu Yong stands contentedly in his greenhouse. Wu is one of those who turned the tiny plants into profit.

After graduating from Wenzhou University in 1999 with a degree in Apparel Design, Wu worked as a designer. But when he saw his hometown, Jingning's Shenyang Village, stuck in time, he felt compelled to bring modern farming and help his neighbors prosper.

Each year, Wu organized around 50 free sessions to train villagers in succulent planting and gifted succulents to them. By planting succulents, they raised awareness of building beautiful villages.

"Beautiful villages come with tourists. Therefore, villagers could earn more money by selling succulents," said Wu, noting that the company with 38 workers over 60 years old welcomed more than 100,000 visits last year and helped 230 households increase their income.

But when Wu started up his succulent and flower business in his hometown back in 2009, villagers had never even heard of succulents.

"We lack advantages in climate, terrain and transport compared with major succulent bases," said Wu. In response, Wu invited experts from the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences to jointly explore methods of planting succulents.

Wu now runs Zhejiang's largest succulent base, spanning about 4.13 hectares and featuring over 400 varieties. Last year, the company's turnover increased to over 16 million yuan (about 2.24 million U.S. dollars).

"We're mountain-born, not mountain-bound," Wu said, who shifted from increasing output to adding value, putting efforts in agritourism and bespoke gardens.

Wu told Xinhua that the company developed various succulent foods, including cakes and cookies. "Our succulent food store is so popular that many visitors express interest in opening franchises after trying our cakes. Many foreign tourists were amazed by the taste," said Wu.

"We want to promote techniques and unlock villagers' potential to start up their businesses," said Wu, who has also grown the company into an education and entrepreneurship hub in Zhejiang.

Encouraged by Wu, many villagers got on the succulent-planting bandwagon. Some villagers grow as many as ten or twenty thousand plants. Wu told Xinhua that if any plants are left, his company will help them sell out.

Also in Jingning, the mountainous town of Maoyang saw the tiny moss in damp corners as a cash cow that carried villagers out of poverty and on a path to further affluence.

Mist, mild days and steep slopes give Maoyang the perfect terrarium. The town has nurtured a burgeoning niche industry of breeding moss and selling related products, such as potted plants and cultural and creative products, including moss paintings.

To pair environmental protection with profit, the village pilots moss-fish and moss-rice systems: fish shelter among the moss, while their waste nourishes it.

"Villagers were baffled when encouraged to cultivate moss -- they had spent years yanking it out in the field as a 'weed.' They doubted such a widespread, tiny plant could ever pay," said Pan Dexiang, Party chief of Maoyang's Shayang Village.

Maoyang runs moss workshops that teach techniques for moss planting and the creation of moss-related cultural and creative products. Last year, the once-overlooked moss earned the town an extra million yuan and jobs for over 200 villagers.

Pan has a big vision for further boosting the income of local villagers. "The town is building a large automated moss seedling base that can develop various products to expand the dividends and promote research," said Pan. ■