Zhejiang Baixing Food Co Ltd built a mushroom-featured recreational park in Lishui, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/lsnews.com.cn]

Mushroom company Zhejiang Baixing Food Co Ltd – based in the city of Lishui in East China's Zhejiang province – has seen a major turnaround in its fortunes after it invested 15 million yuan ($2.22 million) in 2016-2019 to upgrade its original factory into a recreational park, a company spokesman said.

The process involved the successful integration of its mushroom production with activities to popularize science, as well as sightseeing, shopping and catering, he said.

The transformation has been radical from eight years ago, when Baixing Food was solely a mushroom cultivation and production company.

Before the arrival of the recreation park – by virtue of a breakthrough achievement in its core technology – the company had managed to transition from the primary industry to secondary industry, becoming the leader in the mushroom industry in the process.

Kids learn about the science of making mushrooms, in a fun way, on a trip to the park. [Photo/lsnews.com.cn]

But Wu Qijin, head of the company, said that although the industrial upgrade had proved successful, his group still needed to improve its competitiveness in a tough market.

According to Wu, with the continuous development of tourism industry, the company realized the mode "industry + tourism" was the key to realizing added value in the future.

Meanwhile, the park has been selected as a municipal research base for students.

At present, the park receives about 250,000 visits a year, with an annual sales exceeding 30 million yuan.