Many Chinese people start growing flowers and plants as a pastime during their retirement, but 81-year-old Steve Hsu is slightly different – he has spent US$3 million growing organic blueberries and camellia trees producing tea seed oil on about 130 hectares of farmland.
Hsu, a mainland billionaire whose family’s shipping company has been in business for 90 years, is not out to emulate “Tobacco King” magnate Chu Shijian, the former owner of the Yunnan Hongta Group, who earned himself another fortune from growing oranges.
Instead, Hsu, who was born and raised in Shanghai, but now lives in Hong Kong, has gone back to nature as an organic farmer simply as a way to enjoy his retirement.