ON a mountain plateau over 800m above sea level in Zhouning county, Ningde, Fujian province, vividly coloured succulents bathe in the cool mountain air. For Liu Lin, their fleshy leaves are more than mere flora – they are an antidote to urban anxiety.

Liu’s pivot from a trader of building materials to the “curator” of a greenhouse of succulent garden offers a compelling vignette of Fujian’s sweeping rural revitalisation.