Lu Zihan, 75, used to sell his nutritious healthy “black food” including black wheat, black rice and black-bone chicken via circulation of letters, but was unhappy about the slow information delivery and limited influence. When he learnt about the Internet, he had no hesitation in buying a computer for 10,000 yuan (about US$1,200).

Lu then attended a local computer technology training course at Xinye County. He also bought books and cassettes to learn English, the most popular language in cyberspace.

After he got an Internet account at the post office, Lu posted information about his “black food” on his own homepage. The newspaper quoted the old man as saying, “I want the world to know about my products through the Internet.”

More than 20 kinds of his “black food” immediately attracted wide attention on the web. Lu has been kept busy receiving emails inquiring and ordering. His business has been expanded to the cities of Wuhai, Changsha, Xi’an and Guangzhou.

Some products have even been sold to the Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia. His income has jumped from 3,000 yuan (about US$360) at the beginning of 2000 to the current 80,000 yuan (US$9,600).

Meanwhile, Lu opened a training course for villagers to learn how to post information on Internet.

(People’s Daily 01/10/2001)