by Xinhua writers Cheng Lu and Shao Kun

JINAN, May 10 (Xinhua) -- In China, celebrations often come with the sharp crack of a golden egg, as a glittering shell is split open to reveal a prize, a wish or a stroke of luck.

Notably, few realize that over 80 percent of these eggs, used at the likes of mall promotions, weddings and office parties, originate in a small village in east China's Shandong Province.

The village is named Shuihu, and is an unlikely empire built on golden eggs made from gypsum.

GOLDEN EGG EMPIRE

As the sun dipped behind the Yimeng Mountains, Chen Piqing, 72, wiped gypsum dust from his hands. Outside his home, hundreds of golden eggs shimmered in the fading light. Every so often, a logistics van rolled down a narrow lane, stopping to collect boxes of golden eggs bound for customers across China and increasingly beyond.

These eggs which provide fortune to others have also brought prosperity home. Nearly three-quarters of Shuihu's 1,800 residents are engaged in the golden egg business. They produce around 300 million eggs each year, with a total output valued at roughly 500 million yuan (around 69.35 million U.S. dollars).

Production begins with a simple mix of water and gypsum poured into molds. After several rounds of setting and drying, each egg is filled with paper confetti and sealed. What started as a handcraft has evolved, with machines now molding up to 70 eggs at a time -- certainly a massive leap in efficiency compared with earlier times.

"With a few thousand yuan, you can buy a machine and start producing in your own yard," said Chen. "You can earn a few hundred yuan a day."

Golden eggs weren't always the village's calling card.

In Shuihu, residents used to scrape by growing peanuts, wheat and corn.

A turning point for Shuihu emerged in the early 1980s when a villager named Sun Yunbing bought plaster molds from the city of Wuxi in east China's Jiangsu Province. He came up with a new idea: to make figurines and sell them door to door.

Another notable moment took place in 2006. A call from a Shanghai event planning company further changed Shuihu's course. Inspired by a hit variety show featuring a 'smash-the-golden-egg' game, the company had caught wind of Shuihu's expertise in the field of gypsum molding and asked if the villagers could craft golden eggs.

"That phone call marked the birth of Shuihu's golden egg industry," said Sun.

No one in the village had ever made such an egg, but Sun agreed to produce 5,000 of them. The villagers got to work, crafting their own molds and figuring out the process as they went along.

That same year, Shuihu connected to the Internet. At the time, China had just 132 million internet users. In 2024, this number surpassed 1.1 billion.

As access grew, so did opportunity. Villagers began selling golden eggs online, and Shuihu was eventually designated a "Taobao Village," a title given to villages with e-commerce transactions exceeding 10 million yuan annually and broad participation in online trade. By 2022, China had more than 7,700 such villages.

Orders flooded in from across China -- and also from Russia, Japan and Myanmar.

Today, Shuihu is home to over 250 enterprises, from gypsum powder workshops and cardboard box factories to mold makers and logistics firms, each generating more than half a million yuan in annual sales. Restaurants and guesthouses have also sprung up to accommodate visiting buyers and seasonal workers.

Local officials have embraced the boom, expanding drying facilities, building a logistics hub to cut shipping costs, and launching a golden egg exhibition hall to showcase the village's trademark creation.

COMPETITION SPARKS INNOVATION

Golden eggs have evolved in terms of their use and significance, often in unexpected ways. In one widely shared story, a mother bought 100 eggs, priced between 1.5 and 4 yuan apiece, for her child. Each time the child aced a test, the child was allowed to open one egg, revealing a small toy inside.

In some southern cities in China, golden eggs have even found their way into burial customs, with them placed in graves as symbols of good fortune in the afterlife, according to local media.

Yet this industry isn't without challenges. Ease of production has led to fierce competition and product homogeneity. To stay ahead, Shuihu is betting on innovation.

Local authorities have established a golden egg association to oversee everything from sourcing and trademark management to packaging, pricing and customer service.

Shangye Township, which administers Shuihu, has backed a wave of new offerings, such as hand-painted eggs with cultural motifs, plaster dolls, educational kits, and "dig-and-discover" toys that let children chip away at plaster shells to uncover hidden treasures, including Ultraman figurines, miniature dinosaurs and glittering stones, said township official Xu Limin.

"Shuihu's golden egg industry has grown from version 1.0 to version 5.0," Xu added. "It's a leap in both creativity and cultural depth."

Shuihu's transformation mirrors a broader national push to revitalize the countryside. Between 2012 and 2020, a nationwide anti-poverty campaign helped lift nearly 100 million rural residents out of poverty.

Now, more Chinese villages like Shuihu are identifying industries tailored to their strengths, effectively planting the seeds of rural revitalization through homegrown entrepreneurship, whether it's apples, flowers, eyeglasses, guitars, wigs or something more unexpected.

Perhaps the most striking change lies in the people. Once, young villagers left for big cities in search of better lives. Today, more than 80 percent of Shuihu's youth are choosing to stay. They've established karaoke venues, tea houses, beauty salons and restaurants, thereby creating a renewed sense of vitality.

Young villagers returning after delivering customized gypsum statues to clients in nearby places often gather at the local night market in Shuihu at around 10 p.m.

"They usually bring back decent income from each delivery, and they're willing to spend it," said Xu Qingyou, head of the Shuihu golden egg association. "A barbecue, a few beers, and they call it a night."

"We're turning stone into gold," Xu added. "And we're doing it together." ■