The changes are also visible in the scale of local production and the base they have built.
According to Meng, the team has introduced more than 100 varieties of fruit and vegetables to the plateau, including strawberries, cherries, wax apples, and passion fruit, most of which were rare in local markets.
At the Maldrogungkar base, local manager Konchok Lhadze said winter vegetable production had continued, and annual output had reached more than 1,200 metric tons, with local supermarkets now seeking cooperation.
Meng and his team's journey sits within a longer history of Shandong's aid to Xizang. According to People's Daily, Shandong's first group of aid cadres brought vegetable seeds to Xizang in 1995, and by mid 2025, the province had sent 657 cadres and professionals to the region.
More broadly, counterpart aid to Xizang has expanded into a nationwide system since 1994, when the country made it a policy to develop the region. Seventeen provinces and municipalities, along with relevant central enterprises and central financial institutions, have provided counterpart aid to all 74 county-level areas across the autonomous region, with 11 rounds sent to work there, China Ethnic News reported in January.
The aid to Xizang has expanded its focus beyond infrastructure and funding to longer-term work in fields such as industry, technology, education, healthcare, and skills training, leaving the local community to continue to grow and develop.
For Meng, the long-term goal is straightforward. He hopes that the Shouguang model can eventually be taught in every county in Xizang with greenhouse farming so that local people can grow and manage crops on their own. His personal ambition goes even higher: to grow Shouguang fruit and vegetables above 5,000 meters on the plateau.
Meng and his team are preparing to experiment at an altitude of about 4,500 meters. They plan to introduce and cultivate edible roses in the rocky, arid terrain of the Gobi Desert.
"This edible rose thriving on the snowy plateau, at an altitude of 4,500 meters, in such low temperatures, is truly a miracle. It can be used both for ornamental and greening purposes. We look forward to building a large-scale rose industry," said Dorje Phuntsok, an employee of the agricultural base.
