Mo Xuefeng was obsessed with chocolate as a child. After graduation, he turned his passion for chocolate into something sweet -- a "chocolate factory" in east China.

Mo was born in the city of Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. His father is a successful businessman running a packaging company, and he was naturally expected to join his father's business when he grew up. Mo secretly dreamed of doing something much more special.

"I've loved eating chocolate since I was a little boy," said Mo. "But I knew that my parents and their friends did not have much chocolate to eat when they were young, and it had never been a big deal in their lives."

Mo now runs Aficion Chocolate Village, a "chocolate village" themed tourism resort in the township of Dayun under Jiaxing City.

The tourist attraction features everything chocolate, from a chocolate-making factory and chocolate tasting to venues for wedding photos. As it is only about 100 km away from cities like Shanghai and Hangzhou, the village draws huge crowds from the surrounding areas.

During the May Day holiday alone the village attracted more than 50,000 visitors, according to official figures.

The village's success comes amid China's booming tourism industry.

According to a report by the China Tourism Academy, 4.1 billion domestic tourist trips are expected to be made in China in 2021, up 42 percent from 2020, and domestic tourism revenue is expected to surge 48 percent to reach 3.3 trillion yuan (about 513 billion U.S. dollars).

A SWEET BUSINESS IDEA

After graduating from university in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, in 2019, Mo went on to earn his graduate degree in finance at Boston University in the United States.

"I remember teachers would bring chocolate to class," he said.

During this time, he managed to visit many chocolate factories and museums across the world, from Mexico and Belgium to Pennsylvania. The idea of building a chocolate village started taking shape in his head.

"I wanted to create a chocolate village that not only makes chocolate but also welcomes visitors for village tours to appreciate the chocolate culture," he said.

Mo said that chocolate is healthy and that he wanted to promote it in China where "the chocolate culture was yet to be explored" and "many chocolate makers were relatively unknown compared to foreign brands."

"I saw an opportunity," he said.

In 2011, Mo graduated from Boston University and faced a dilemma. He could either choose to stay in the United States to start a career or go back to his hometown to take on his father's business. While these seemed like his only options, he eventually decided to come back to China to launch a business of his own.

Things were not that easy in the very beginning.

"There was nobody to learn from because there were no chocolate villages in China as far as I knew," he said. "I contacted a designer, but the designer did not know what I wanted at all."

Mo went overseas again to draw inspiration. Even now, he still travels to other countries at least twice a year to learn from foreign chocolate townships.

In July 2012, Mo decided to settle his chocolate village where he grew up in the township of Dayun and named it the Aficion Chocolate Village.

"Dayun is my hometown, and the local government was promoting tourism," Mo said. "The area has great transportation conditions. So it was perfect."

As one of the biggest chocolate-themed villages in Asia, Aficion centers on chocolate-making and research and development, while also offering recreational activities such as village tours and experiencing chocolate-making, among others.

To make the best chocolate, Mo bought equipment from Switzerland and selected quality raw materials from across the world.

With the support of the local government, the village started making chocolate under the Aficion brand in February 2014, and the tourist attraction officially opened for public visits later that year.

"We did not just want to be a chocolate maker," Mo said. "We want to spread chocolate culture and promote chocolate-based tourism."

Mo said he hopes people who visit the village approve the chocolate quality and would want to buy it again after having a taste.

"When consumers buy our chocolates, they will know that the chocolates come straight from the factory in the Aficion Chocolate Village," Mo said. "When they come to the village for visits, they will see our advanced equipment and strict management in person, and they will trust our product quality."

The village has won several awards since its debut. In 2014, it was named a provincial "demonstration base for industrial tourism." It was honored as a provincial "demonstration characteristic town" in 2016. The next year, it became a national-level tourist attraction.

Since 2014, Aficion chocolates have hit the shelves in more than 20,000 supermarkets in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Aficion has also launched online channels, selling chocolate on platforms such as Taobao.com, JD.com and yhd.com. Mo has also tapped the wedding industry by making wedding candies. His team is beginning to explore the markets in other areas in China.

"It is a sweet business to me," Mo said. "I will continue to do my best to make the best chocolate and promote the chocolate culture." 

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