Viral ostrich farmer climbs up the e-commerce pecking order

In the age of social media, small businesses cannot afford to bury their head in the sand. And this female-led, female-run enterprise in rural China seems to have cracked the algorithm.

Ostrich farmer Zhan Yun rigs up a pair of smartphones on sticks using socks and elastic bands to livestream on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. She holds a head of cabbage as her resident ostriches crane their necks in and peck away at it while she sells her feather dusters. The idea is not for the birds.

This daily ritual has earned Yun, better known as "Tuo Feifei (Flying ostriches)," 720,000 followers. With her online popularity, business is brisk, at a rate of producing about 5,000 dusters per day to meet demand.

The female entrepreneur has been able to create 50 jobs for locals, mainly women, doing her bit to boost rural revitalization in China.