After visiting Evergreen Resort, Song Ruixiang, vice director-general of the National Environmental Protection Bureau, praised Wei and her people for their work. "It's not just that they turn trash into treasure, but that they maximize the use of resources for sustainable development,¡± the official said.

Wei treats her workers in Evergreen Resort like family. She said her employees would not live where she herself could not live and would not eat what she would not eat.

Once she took all the resort's cleaners on a pleasure tour to Window of the World, a famous theme park in Shenzhen. She bought them the park train ride and VIP seats in the theater. She did not know that day was the city's Cleaners' Day, so she gained unplanned publicity when the city's media covered Evergreen Resort's cleaning workers having a wonderful time in Window of the World.

Again, Wei called this yuanfen.

Recently Wei created several new products for her resort. One is a set of percussion instruments made of metal scraps. At regular hours, a concert based on them is given to the audience. Members of the audience are welcome to try them when a show is not on.

The second product is called "a school in the forest," with replicas of animals like piranhas, big frogs and lizard, as well as real or artificial plants of numerous kinds. Wei said it had been designed to provide a venue for the city¡¯s primary students to conduct field studies in relation to their courses about nature.

The year 2003 has been designated as a year of cuisine travel by China's tourism authorities. For that Wei has introduced into the resort a variety of Taiwanese food with which she is familiar as she was born and raised in Taiwan. Speaking on the inauguration of the resort's Taiwan Food Festival, Wei could not help turning to her notion about environment. She said good food did not come from rare animals and that creative ideas could help turn simple vegetables into tasty dishes. "One can have good health by maintaining an environmentally friendly eating habit," said Wei.

Editor: Wings