Sweet success for a man and his chocolate factory
Print Edition
Mo Xuefeng was obsessed with chocolate as a child. After graduation, he turned his passion for chocolate into something sweet 鈥 a 鈥渃hocolate factory鈥 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鈥檚 business when he grew up. Mo secretly dreamed of doing something much more special.
鈥淚鈥檝e loved eating chocolate since I was a little boy,鈥 said Mo. 鈥淏ut 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.鈥
Mo now runs Aficion Chocolate Village, a 鈥渃hocolate village鈥 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 kilometers 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.
After graduating from university in Nanjing, capital of east China鈥檚 Jiangsu Province, in 2019, Mo went on to earn his graduate degree in finance at Boston University in the United States.
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.
鈥淚 wanted to create a chocolate village that not only makes chocolate but also welcomes visitors for village tours to appreciate the chocolate culture,鈥 he said.
Mo said that chocolate is healthy and that he wanted to promote it in China where 鈥渢he chocolate culture was yet to be explored鈥 and 鈥渕any chocolate makers were relatively unknown compared to foreign brands.鈥
鈥淚 saw an opportunity,鈥 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淭here was nobody to learn from because there were no chocolate villages in China as far as I knew,鈥 he said.
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.
The village has won several awards since its debut. In 2014, it was named a provincial 鈥渄emonstration base for industrial tourism.鈥 It was honored as a provincial 鈥渄emonstration characteristic town鈥 in 2016. The next year, it became a national-level tourist attraction.
鈥淲e did not just want to be a chocolate maker,鈥 Mo said. 鈥淲e want to spread chocolate culture and promote chocolate-based tourism.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
